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DISS ER PATION © 


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SECOND COMING OF JESUS CHRIST. 


BY 


GEORGENDEBFIELD, 


PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH OF DETROIT, 


eet i cannot believe that truth can be prejudiced by the discovery of truth, but 1 
fear that the maintenance thereof by fallacy or falsehood may not end with a 
blessing.’—Mepr. 


NEW YORK: 


PUBLISHED BY DAYTON & NEWMAN, 
199 Broadway. 


1842. 


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CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER I. 
Tue Duty or STUDYING THE PROPHECIES, AND THE OB- 
JECTIONS COMMONLY URGED AGAINSTIT, . ne 
CHAPTER II. 


Tue System or INTERPRETATION, 


CHAPTER III. 
Tue SysTemM ΟΕ INTERPRETATION, ‘ F Γ ; 
CHAPTER IV. 
Tue SystTEM oF INTERPRETATION. THE NATURE OF 
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE, . : : 2 
CHAPTER V. 


Tue System oF INTERPRETATION.—SYMBOLICAL AND 
TypicaL LANGUAGE . 
CHAPTER VI. 
A GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL 


System oF INTERPRETING THE PROPHECIES, 


CHAPTER VII. 


TRADITIONARY History, 


32 


61 


97 


122 


148 


167 


1 


iv CONTENTS. 
. CHAPTER VIII. 
TrapiTionary History, . - . τ. . 199 
CHAPTER ΙΧ. 
TRAP TionaRyY ΗΠ σαν ΠΤ ΠΥ}. «Ὁ. 997 
CHAPTER Χ. 


THe ῬΕΙΝΟΙΡΙῈΒ ΟΕ INTERPRETATION APPLIED, AND THE 
Seconp Cominec or CHRIST SHOWN TO BE PRE-MILLE- 


NIAL, Sane: sy : . ΥΩ . 267 
CHAPTER ΧΙ. 
Tue Comine or ΟΗΕΙΒῚ PRE-MILLENIAL, OR PRIOR TO THE 
DESTRUCTION OF PoPpERY, . a é ; ; ee} 
CHAPTER XI. : 


Tue Nature oF THE Day or JUDGMENT SUPPOSED TO 
AFFORD AN OBJECTION AGAINST THE PRE-MILLENIAL 


Comine or Curist, . Σ . ‘ 4 4 τ: 3326 
CHAPTER XIII. 

THE SEASON AND Signs or Curist’s Comine, . ; . 868 
CHAPTER XIV. 


Tue Sxeptic’s OBJECTION, . , Ἐν ἐμὰ 5 . 407 


PREFACE. 


᾿ 


Tue author of the following dissertations respectfully 
bespeaks the reader’s attention before he enters on their 
perusal. They are the substance of part of a series of lectures 
delivered during the winter of 1841-2 to the people of his 
charge, and are now given to the public in compliance with 
the desire expressed by many to have them in some visible 
and permanent form. 

He is aware that he needs the reader’s favor, so far at least 
as to dismiss the influence of preconceived opinions, and dis- 
passionately to examine the subject presented in these pages. 
But he is satisfied, that the intrinsic merit of the subject, as 
well as its important bearing on personal interests, on Chris- 
tian practice, on social welfare, and on the destinies of nations, 
will gain the reader’s attention sufficiently to examine the 
evidence presented whether these things are so. 

The great question which forms the-nucleus of the whole 
discussion, is one, and very simple, viz. Is the kingdom of 
heaven a new dispensation, to be introduced on earth by the 
visible personal coming of Jesus Christ ? or has it been com- 
menced,and is it now in the progress of its expansion, through 
the influence of moral and political causes, and especially the 
preaching of the gospel, designed in the providence of God 
to overcome human corruption, to prostrate every system of 
superstition, idolatry, and oppression, and to mould society, to 
control the legislation, to effect changes in the organic laws 
or constitutions of nations, and to restore to the world the do- 
minion of truth, peace, and righteousness, without any acces- 
sion of miraculous agency ? The statesmen and politicians of 
the day will reason and speculate, intrigue and plan, and think 
that they descry, in the march of improvement, the increase 
of light, and the very posture of nations, the pledges that 


1* 


vi PREFACE. 


carth shall be redeemed, and liberty, virtue, science, and in- 
telligence bless the human race. The experience of the past 
presents but a sad, sad retrospect ; and little, very little to af- 
ford a ground of hope for the future. What right have we 
to conclude, that as a people we have attained to superior 
knowledge and purity, and possess such superior skill in self- 
government, and such perfect social and political institutions, 
that we must certainly escape the disasters and ruin which 
have befallen the highly civilized and refined nations of anti- 
quity. It is the dictate of wisdom to suspect the suggestions 
of self-flattery when they thus come athwart the experience 
of the world. Nor should we be blind to the numerous proofs 
apparent, that some cementing and consolidating principles 
are yet wanting to give permanence and perpetuity to our 
institutions. 

The Christian will betake himself to the word of God as 
to his guide, when he attempts to forecast the political des- 
tinies of the nations of the earth. No book can be found so 
full of general politics, so replete with valuable instruction, 
and so essential to the right understanding of the means, se- 
curities, and very elements of national prosperity, as. the Bible. 
{t unravels a thousand perplexing mysteries in human gov- 
ernment, and gives a clue to the profitable study and practical 
uses to be made of the great principles which mark the pro- 
vidence of God, and the development of the plans of Heaven, 
It is of infinite importance to him, that he should be familiar 
with this blessed Book, and have drunk deep of its spirit. 
Erroneous views entertained with regard to the general 
scheme of God’s providence, will not, and cannot fail to 
leave us ever at fanit in understanding its particular evo- 
lutions. 

The writer of these dissertations looks to the “‘ more sure 
word of prophecy” as to the best and safest guide for our 
researches into the future.. God, who sees the end from the 
beginning, and has laid his wise and holy plans in full view 
of all contingencies, and of all the various events that might 
arise, is prepared for every exigency, and has apprised us of 
the great crises which shall occur, as he unfolds his wondrous 
scheme. Nor has he left us without sufficient means of 


PREFACE. vil 


knowing and judging what is the grand design towards which 
all his movements tend, and what shall be the great and 
glorious result in which they shall all ultimate. That, it will 
be admitted, by every student of the Bible, is THz comInG AND 
KINGDOM oF Jesus CuristT. ‘The first promise implied in the 
. threat against the serpent, brings it into view; and the suc- 
cessive promises and dispensations of God have but enlarged, 
defined, and eclaircised the Christian’s legitimate hopes and 
expectations. 

These things will scarcely be denied by any professed be- 
liever in the truth and authority of the Sacred Scriptures. 
Yet great is the difference in the results which flow from the 
use and application of them. According as thechurch of God, 
considered as a spiritual society, visibly organized in this 
world, and destined to ascendant influence, may be regarded, 
will men’s views of the divine plans and providence take their 
character, and their estimate of divine procedures affecting it, 
be made. If we believe that the world is to be converted and 
blessed by the expansion of the church, and the gradual diffu- 
sion-of her light, and means of moral influence :—if, in other 
words, the Gospel is destined to find its consummation entirely 
through the action of secondary causes, and the moral means, 
and social and spiritual influences, at present possessed, it 
is easy to perceive, that our ideas of the second coming of 
Christ, and of the great results designed by that Gospel, will 
and must be essentially different from what they would be, 
were we persuaded, that that coming is as literally to occur 
as did this first, and the present to be superseded by, and find 
its consummation in, a new and glorious state of things, as 
miraculously to be introduced as have been any and all the 
dispensations of his grace before it. 

Whether that long-predicted and expected coming of Jesus 
Christ, and of the kingdom of Heaven, are matters of literal 


verity, according to the grammatical import of the expres-— 


sions, or analogically to be understood, and therefore to be inter- 
preted altogether figuratively or spiritually, is a question of 
deep and wonderful bearing: nor is it to be slighted and 
sneered at, by any one professing to love and reverence the 
sacred oracles of God.. It is vital to all our hopes, and forms 


vill PREFACE. 


the very warp and woof of all the scriptural revelations on 
the subject. It must be met; and will be candidly examined 
by every man who loves the truth, and is unwilling to be 
_ swayed by the dogmas of others. The decision, we contend, 
must be had from the word of God itself. It seems reason- 
able, and is the very dictate of all simple and unsophisticated 
minds, that the ideas of those who indicted the Scriptures,— 
their notions of the things of which they wrote and spoke, and 
their rules and principles of interpretation,—should be respected 
by us. We are not at liberty to assign different meanings to 
their words, and to understand them as teaching things of 
which they had no conception. Nor are we to take any part 
of their writings, and apply them to scenes and events which 
we may have excovitated, and pass it off as their description. 
The same authority which dictated the oracles, in the first 
instance, must be appealed to, as interpreter of their meaning. 
If words have changed their import, and A SPIRITUAL or analo- 
gical system has superseded A LITERAL, WE MUST BE DISTINCTLY 
APPRISED OF THE CHANGE. It is easy for us to excogitate for 
ourselves an import of expressions which shall eyiscerate the 
sacred oracles. 

This, it is thought, by some excellent and beloved brethren, 
is what the millenarian has done; while he, in his turn, be- 
lieves that the spiritualist is the aggressor here. The most. 
common and plausible objection against the millenarians’ 
literal interpretation of prophecy, grows out of an assumption 
of certain things, which must be proven, before they can be 
employed as the key to unlock its meaning. The conversion 
of the world, by means of present appliances and instrumen- 
talities, increased in number and power,—and the universal 
and ascendant influence of Christianity, as a system of moral 
and religious truth, at present known and understood amid 
discordant philosophical and ecclesiastical sects, and expound- 
ed by different theologians and metaphysicians,—are points 
assumed, from which motives to exertion are drawn, and at- 
tempts made to urge the Christian community forward in 
ceeds of Missionary daring and benevolent activity. Toomuch 
activity and benevolent expenditure cannot be made, for the 
accomplishment of the great end, which God designs by his 


PREFACE. ΙΧ 


Gospel. Nor should we ever look indifferently on, or willing- 
ly and unnecessarily throw away, the motives by which the 
Christian church may be stimulated to action, in obedience 
to the command of Jesus Christ, to go and “teach all na- 
tions,” to evangelize all nations, and to preach his Gospel to 
every creature. 

But it certainly may be suggested, and is worthy of the 
gravest consideration, whether we may not appeal to and 
employ a class of motives, which neither the word nor provi- 
dence of God will justify. The hope of success, it is correctly 
urged by Mr. Harris,* is an essential element of activity, and 
if this be gone, and we are to believe that the world is not to 
be evangelized by the noiseless and gradually augmented in- 
strumentality of the Christian church, accompanied by the 
energizing influence of the Holy Spirit, at least one powerful 
class of motives will be rendered unavailable or inoperative. 
He has made an issue between those who believe in the in- 
strumentality of man, as designed of God, for the conversion of 
the world, and for the consummation of the Gospel scheme, and 
of those whose views in prophecy lead them to look for a fear- 
ful and solemn crisis, to be signalized by the personal coming 
of Jesus Christ for the introduction and establishment of his 
kingdom, on the ruins of existing nations hostile to his supre- 
macy. He admits, that many, who adopt the latter view, 
are not only friendly to Missionary enterprise, but profess to 
derive from it motives to increased diligence in the cause of 
God: and he bears very honorable testimony to their piety, 
and to the fact, that some of them “ number among the libe- 
ral and active supporters of our religious institutions.” But 
he allows himself,—certainly by no means conformably with 
the Christian rule, or the Christian spirit,—to “ suspect that 
in many of such instances, we are indebted for what they do, 
rather to the very natural desire of recommending their pecu- 
liar views to others, than to the views themselves,—that their 
conduct is in this respect better than their creed,—that it is 
the triumph of their piety over their opinions,’’—and that 
whatever of Missionary zea] and benevolent activity they now 
evince, is to be referred rather to the influence of principles 


* See his Great Commission, p. 135, 


x PREFACE. 


which date anterior to their peculiar views of prophecy. The 
warrant he adduces for these suspicions and fears, will apply 
~ with equal force to many who adopt his own views, among 
whom, as numerous instances may be found, of those, who, at 
one period of their history, “did run well,’’ but who have subse- 
quently become as inactive in reference to the diffusion of the 
Gospel, as if a prophet had been deputed to say to them, 
“ your strength is to sit still.” 

Such impeachment of motive is not allowable. It is the 
ARGUMENTUM AD INVIDIAM, and is totally unfounded, if not 
suggested by ignorance of the views condemned, and of their 
legitimate bearing on Christian practice. 

Suppose that a man believes the world is to be gradually 
brought under the dominion of the Gospel, by the present in- 
strumentalities employed. The prospect of success, it is true, 
will quicken effort, and induce liberality, just im proportion as 
his benevolence expands, and he longs for the welfare of the 
human race. But it is necessary, for the activity and efficiency 
of that motive, to keep him always advised of measurable 
success, and stimulated by bright and glowing pictures of the 
future. When disappointment, disasters, and defeat occur, 
as they often do, what then is the resource? nothing is left, 
but to fall back upon the promise of God, which presents the 
arm of Omnipotence, the faithfulness of Jehovah, for our sure 
reliance, and hope of ultimate victory. Who does not see 
that, in having recourse to such sources of hope and consola- 
tion, we must be sure that we understand the import of the 
promise, and know the mind of God expressed in it? Imagi- 
nation may electrify; but it is not for one moment to be 
admitted as the expounder of God’s word and promises. 

As long as he can be kept stimulated, and his passions thus 
be fired, he may be roused to action. But the electric fires 
die—a morbid state of mind and heart ensues upon the exces- 
sive use of stimulants, applied to men’s fancies and passions. 
It is only as we can fall back on fixed and stable principles, 
that we can look for continuous, increasing and devoted ac- 
tion. Those principles can never be found, but in intelligent 
and believing views of God’s own mind and will. Our bene- 
volence and action must embrace the objects, and take the 


* 


PREFACE. Xi 


direction, and be with the design, of God’s own, to be truly 
successful and permanently efficient. It would be just as 
legitimate here to suspect, were it proper so to do, that much 
of the fickleness and spasmodic action of many friends of Mis- 


sions, who avow their expectation of the world’s conversion 


by such instrumentality, may be referred to such causes. 
Suppose, now, on the other hand, that a man believes in the 
approaching speedy personal coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
to destroy the guilty nations of the earth by positive acts of 
retributive violence, to raise the bodies of his dead saints, to 
quicken the living, and to establish the kingdom of Heaven in 
their joint dominion, and that in the mean time, he will have 
his gospel preached as a witness to all nations, that he may 
visit the Gentiles, and take out of them a people for the glory 
of his own name,—with what peculiar emotions, and invinci- 
ble energy, will he address himself to the great design and 
business of his Christian life? He looks upon the kingdoms 
of this world as being under the dominion of “ the god of this 
world,” “ the great enemy and avenger,” that foe of Jesus 
Christ, the old ‘roaring lion” which goeth about seeking whom 
hemay devour. The kingdom of Heaven, he is persuaded, is 
designed to supersede this accursed dominion, and to fill the 
earth with joy and blessedness. Its honors, and privileges, 
and rewards, as administered by the subordinate agency of 
the saints, he believes can only be attained by the contempt 
of this world’s wealth and greatness, power and glory, and by 
a life of suffering, devoted, and faithful attachment unto Jesus 
Christ. He may, indeed, in common with others, be blinded 
by a false philosophy, which will not permit him to make a 
right estimate of human agency, obligation, and instrumentali- 
ty, in carrying on the designs of God. In this respect, he is, 
however, no otherwise affected than are multitudes, who do 
not believe in the personal, visible appearance of Christ, to 
introduce the reign of Heaven. Whatever inaction and in- 
difference to the Missionary enterprise he may evince, must be 
referred to his system of philosophy, not to his faith in this 
matter. With right views of human obligation and instru- 
mentality, and with intelligent views of the great scheme of 
providence, of which the coming and kingdom of Christ form 


xii PREFACE. 


the grand result, he will find in his millenarian faith, not only 
a solace in the midst of sorrows, distresses, and disappoint- 
ments, but an incentive to ever-active effort in bearing testi- 
mony to the glory of his Saviour, and in swelling the tri- 
umphs of his heavenly kingdom. 

He is met, at the very moment of enlisting in the service of 
Christ, by a solemn question—whether to renounce his hopes 
and prospects, his pleasures and plans, so far as they stand con- 
nected with the kingdoms of this world, and are inspired by the 
promises of earth, to east in his lot, for time and eternity, with 
the people of God, and to prefer the reproach of Christ to the 
treasuresof Egypt. Till this question is decided, and with all 
his heart and soul he gives himself to Jesus Christ, he is none of 
his. There can be noneutrality here. Indifference and luke- 
warmness—an attempt to reconcile God and Mammon, Christ 
and Belial—will only cause him to be spewed out of the mouth 
of Christ, and to have his name blotted out of the book of life. 
It is “to him that overcometh,” and to him alone, that the 
promise will be verified, that Christ will give him “to 
sit down with him on his throne, as he hath sat down 
with the Father on his throne. He feels that as he enters 
on the service of Christ, he enlists as a soldier, commences a 
warfare, and that both the service and the war are for life. 
He is not dazzled by great and brilliant prospects of sharing 
with the world in its honors, and enriching himself by its 
spoils. He knows that victory is certain, and that nothing 
can more effectually promote his honor, and swell his share 
in the triumphs of the Great Captain of salvation, than to fall 
a sacrifice, as he did himself. He looks not on the govern- 
ments of the earth, expecting them to be grasped, and under 
this dispensation subjected to the supremacy of Jesus Christ, 
but knows that they are under the influence and direction of 
intrigue and duplicity, of falsehood and treachery, of selfish- 
ness and corruption ;—fit illustrations of his character, who has 
usurped the dominion of earth, and claimed its kingdoms as his 
own. He is thus fortified against their seductive influence. 

If, in the providence of God, he is called to take a part, and 
to share in the obligations devolving on those who administer 
that rule which God has made essential to the welfare and 


PREFACE, xii 


existence of society, he is reminded of an authority superior to 
that of man, and of the necessity of keeping a conscience void 
of offence towards both. He isa witness for Christ, let him 
be where he may or do what he will. Having made his 
choice, and preferred the glory of the heavenly kingdom to 
that of the kingdoms of this world, he is willing, if needs be, 
to seal his testimony with his blood, knowing that this will 
increase the brilliancy of his crown. Firmness, decision, un- 
compromising fidelity and attachment to Jesus Christ, are 
promoted by the views he takes, not of the blending, but of 
the contrast, of Christ’s kingdom with those of this world. 
Believing that in the present dispensation of his grace, his 
Lord and Master is calling out a people from the Gentiles for 
his own glory, and preparing the whole elect company of his 
priests and kings, who are to share with him in the triumphs 
of his dominion; feeling the oligation of his Master’s com- 
mand to preach the good news of his kingdom to every crea- 
ture, and to enlist recruits in his service; and not being para- 
lyzed by a false philosophy relative to human agency, which 
has long pervaded the church, irrespective of millenarian 
views, he becomes, in fact, a Missionary, wherever he is and 
wherever he goes, telling of the doom of a guilty world, of the 
authority, glory, and claims of the Saviour, and of his grace and 
promises of pardon and blessedness to all that will come to him, 

His story is very simple. His testimony is full, and it 
strikes as directly against the intrigue, selfishness, violence, 
and oppression of the haughty potentates of earth, as it does 
against the ambition, cupidities, and lusts of individuals. The 
native influence of his faith in this wondrous matter, is to dis- 
encumber him from earth, to relieve him of a thousand 
embarrassments, to fortify him against the ensnarements and 
fascinations of a world that lieth in wickedness, to enkindle 
his zeal and devotion to Christ and his cause, to direct him 
to the source of all inspiring influences, and to the treasures of 
wisdom and strength laid up for him in Jesus Christ. He is 
not to be excited and stimulated by the prospect of immediate 
and speedy or partial success, nor in danger of intriguing with 
princes, and rulers, and nobles of the earth, to secure the tem- 
porary triumph of Christianity. He falls back upon the re- 


1 


xiv PREFACE. ! 


sources of his Saviour. He knows the end to be secured. 
Every sinner saved is a soul added to the number of the 
heavenly kingdom. He works in detail, and whether in the 
full tide of the Spirit’s gracious influences, or in seasons of re- 
buke and blasphemy, of disappointment and disaster, he feels 
that the march is steady and onward, and that the triumph is 
to be hastened by the delivering of his testimony, in common 
with the whole company of the faithful, and the preaching 
of the Gospel throughout the world. 

Thus did the apostles feel and act. Thus, too, did the 
primitive Christians. There was a simplicity, a moral sub- 
limity of character, a transparency of principle, which kept 
them unharmed by the polluting influence of governmental 
intrigues, and ever true and faithful to their suffering and 
crucified Redeemer. To him they looked, and not to kings, 
and courts, and cabinets, for the success and triumph of 
their cause. Nor was it till the church construed herself 
into the kingdom of Christ on earth, the hierarchy rose, 
and governmental powers were claimed as best adapted to 
promote the Saviour’s cause,—till reliance was placed more 
upon an arm of flesh than upon the grace and omnipo- 
tence of Jesus Christ and the influence of his Spirit, that 
the work of Missions became almost exclusively that of 
the officers of the church, and the object of Missions, not so 
much the conversion of souls, as the subjugation of dominions 
to her authority. There is no want of powerful motive to 
Christian activity, and to Missionary enterprise, in the millena- 
rian faith. It exalts Christ, lifts the heart high as Heaven, 
and fires with the prospect of entering into the joy of our Lord, 
of living and reigning with him, if so be that we suffer with 
him ; and thus reconciles us to toil and sorrow—nay, gives us 
a complacency in these very things, and helps us, as Paul did, 
to glory in tribulation. 

It is ungenerous, and we feel it to be especially unkind to 
attempt to charge a faith so fertile in motive, with an ineffi- 
ciency that might have been referred, legitimately, to other 
causes than to millenarianism, even to those which have 
more or less for centuries paralyzed the church, and which 
still affect the minds of many, whether believing or not in 
the pre-millenial advent of Christ. 


PREFACE. χν 


The author οὗ the following pages has deemed these re- 
marks necessary, to bespeak a candid attention to the subject 
presented in them. He has not enlarged on the practical 
bearing of the millenarian faith, believing that it was unne- 
cessary, and that the good sense and piety of professing Chris- 
tians, under the guidance of God’s Spirit, will make the 
proper use of them, whenever and wherever they are seen and 
felt to be the truth of God. He commends the work to the 
Christian public with much deference, and requests that the 
attention which the subject merits may be given, if not to these 
pages, certainly to their great and glorious theme. He offers no 
apologies for the imperfections which must necessarily mark a 
performance, prepared in the midst of extended pastoral care 
and labors, and with but limited means of access to the works 
of the learned, and especially those which are but rarely to be 
met with, except in large public libraries. The candid and dis- 
cerning reader will make all due allowance. 

The course of lectures, of which the dissertations are the 
substance, comprised a wider range, embracing, as well the 
objects or designs, as the reality of the Saviour’s personal 
and pre-millenial coming. The author has thought it proper 
to preserve the unity of the work, by confining attention to the 
latter. Many and very interesting details, in the exposition 
of prophecy, have, by this course, been excluded. But should 
the providence of God indicate it, they may at some future 
day be given to the public. 


“ὦ 


do Len se soba val | 


on peer ἵει ἜΝ +e iis 
oR ny fats ‘eae aie 
? ἀρ esd: ite tee ident ll 


ate 
Πα 


We ck ‘ah : 
cule ἐν rie ΡΥ oe, [ : δι ; ; fy 
- f whe} ALG ee Eas Ros ? ᾿ ᾿ 
} ni ws ig Sua hte πων 
δα ἘΣ ti πιο ἐν Ὁ ἘΠ ον, ak Τα 
ὶ ΩΝ 
᾿ 
9 , 
i 
ὲ 
ἢ 


ara LIBRA 


ΟΥ̓ THE 


fan 


DISSERTATIONS 


ON THE 


PROPHECIES. 


~ 


CHAPTER I. 


INTRODUCTION. 
THE DUTY OF STUDYING THE PROPHECIES, AND THE 
OBJECTIONS COMMONLY URGED AGAINST IT. 


Tue. diligent and careful study of prophecy is 
highly commended in the Sacred Scriptures. Motives, 
urging to it also are suggested; so that, whoever may 
practically undervalue the prophetical parts of the 
word of God, cannot, with any fair pretext, question 
either the obligation or the importance of their study. 
Yet have both been done. In commencing a series of 
disquisitions, therefore, designed to aid in the dis- 
charge of this duty, it becomes proper and necessary 
to illustrate and to enforce, to some extent, the obliga- 
tions binding all to it. Its importance will be manifest, 
at every stage, in the progress of the investigations 
proposed. 

2 


10 THE DUTY oF 


I. THE SAME OBLIGATION WHICH BINDS US TO THE STUDY 
OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES, ALSO BINDS US TO THE STUDY 
OF THE PROPHECIES THEY CONTAIN. 


The blessed Redeemer has commanded us to 
“search the Scriptures.”* In having so done, He has 
enjoined something more than the loose casual read- 
ing of them, or the things which pass current with 
many for their study. It will not suffice, having 
brought into view this or the other doctrine, the 
notions of this or the other theological school or pro- 
fessor, to examine and collate the texts by which they 
may be proved: nor will it suffice to search for all 
the texts, by which this or the other system of theo- 
logical truth, this or the other body of divinity, this 
or the other theory of religion, may have its general 
and particular parts or features confirmed. This is 
but studying the doctrines or opinions, the theories or 
systems, of man’s excogitation and arrangement. 

Nor does the careful investigation of the creeds of 
different churches, and the adoption of that pro- 
fessed by the one to which we may belong, meet our 
obligations in this matter. It is not designed, either 
to disparage creeds, or to object to their legitimate 
use ; but the study of any creed, or confession of faith, 
is not the study of the word of God. No man ever 
dreamed that he is studying Newton’s Principia, 
Cavallo’s Philosophy, Gibbon’s Rome, or Hume’s 
History of England, who does no more than consult the 
index, turn over their pages, and examine whether 
this or the other proposition or fact, previously stated, 
iscontained in them. No more can he be said to study 
the Sacred Scriptures—no matter how diligent he may 


* John, 5. 39, 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 11 


be in the use of his concordance—who merely collects 
and assorts his texts under different heads; and either 
makes his own, or adopts some other, system of theo- 
logy. 

Nor can he be said to study the Scriptures, who 
consults this and the other commentator, and selects, 
from all their different commentaries, the opinions 
that strike him most favorably. A man may spend 
his life in this way, and manufacture volumes of notes, . 
and scholia, and expositions, and yet, all the time, 
have been but studying the writings and opinions of 
men on particular passages, without digging into the 
inexhaustible mines of truth which the word of God 
contains. 

Nor can he be called a student of the Scriptures, 
who is always on the search for novelties and recondite 
meanings, and betrays an anxiety to differ from all that 
have gone before him, and to startle by the unexpected 
and extraordinary interpretation given to plain and 
obvious passages. This is rather to affect a display 
of ingenuity, and to study to appear singular. 

It behoves us to read the Scriptures attentively, 
carefully, and with a view to ascertain what they 
affirm; pondering the language, connection, argu- 
ments, and illustrations employed by the sacred 
writers, so as to ascertain, what ¢hey meant, and what 
they designed to teach. The obligation to this will be 
denied by no protestant. But if such be our obliga- 
tions “to search the Scriptures,” it is impossible 
for us to discharge them without the diligent and 
careful study of the prophecies, which form so large a 
portion of them. It is not a part only—not the New 
Testament merely—not the Gospels—but both Old 
and New—the entire word of God, that we are bound, 
according to our time, means, and opportunities, to 
investigate. Whoso denies his obligation to study 


12 THE DUTY oF 


the prophetical parts of Scripture, by the very same 
mode of reasoning, must deny his obligations to study 
the word of God at all: When did God give any of 
us the right to say what parts, or how much, of his 
revealed will we would attend to, and what we 
would neglect 2 


4 
Il. Tar Semir or Gop ΗΒ ESPECIALLY COMMANDED 
AND URGED THE STUDY OF THE PROPHECIES. 


This He has done in several ways. First, He has 
distinctly and directly met that spirit of practical con- 
tempt, with which many are apt to treat the prophet- 
ical parts of Scripture, enjoining it on us to “ des- 
pise not prophesyings.”* And this injunction was 
immediately given after the solemn mandate, ‘ quench 
not the Spirit,” as. though one of the most common 
and. effectual means) to quench the Spirit, is to des. 
pise prophesyings. In addition to this, He has, in the 
most: formal.and>explicit manner, expressed His ap- 
probation of those:who were studious of the prophe- 
cies:. The Bereans were commended as being “‘ more 
noble} than they of Thessalonica, in that they re- 


* 1 Thes. 5. 20, zpognrecas. The word is used in its generic 
import here. “ Prophecy may include exhortation, and some sort of 
instruction, (Acts, 15. 32) as well as the faculty of foretelling 
distant.events. Lightfoot. Locke. Wells. Macknight. See 
also: Collyer’s Sacred Interpreter, p. 2, c. viii., sub fin.’’—Slade’s 
Annotations, vol. i. p. 269. 

The Hebrew x22, or Greek προφητης» denoted one who uttered 
the words of God, either as the organs or interpreters of the divine 
oracles. See-also Gaussen’s Theopneusty, pp. 285, &c. 

t Acts, 17.11, εὑὐγενέστεροι. More ingenuous, of better spirit. 
* They were, say the Greek fathers, ἐπιεικεστέροι, more impartial ; 
they thought patiently, meditated, and inquired diligently on the 
subject; they were εὐθετύτεροι, more apt towards the kingdom of 
God; they were more prepared or marshalled, τεταγμένοι, towards 
eternal life.—Elsley’s Annotations, vol. iii. pp. 285, 286. 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIEs. 13 


ceived the word with all readiness of mind, and 
searched the Scriptures daily whether these things 
were so.” A reference to the subject of Pau!’s preach- 
ing will show, that they were the prophetical parts 
particularly which they searched. For he “reasoned 
with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging 
that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again 
from the dead, and that this Jesus whom preach unto 
you is Christ.’’* 

Peter, speaking by the Holy Ghost, says, in- the . 
plainest manner, that we do well to “ take heed” to 
the ,“‘ more sure word of prophecy.”{ Surely if the 
Spirit of God commends, we should not care who 
condemns. | 

Beside, the example of the prophets themselves, 
yea and of the very angels, is referred to in proof of 
the propriety and obligation of this duty. ‘ Of which 
salvation the prophets have inquired and searched dili- 
gently, who prophesied of the grace that should come 
unto you: searching what, or what manner of time, 
the spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, 
when it testified before hand the sufferings of Christ 
and the glory that should follow. Unto whom it was 
revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us, they 
did minister the things which are now reported unto 
you by them that have preached the gospel unto you 
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven—which 
things the angels desire to look into.”{ It ill be- 
comes us, therefore, with examples of such an ele- 
vated character before us,—when the very prophets © 
themselves studied their own predictions, and the 
angels also desired to look into them,—to treat, with 
lightness or indifference, such an interesting, solemn, 
and wonderful portion of the word of God. 


* Acts, 17. 2, 3. Tt 2 Peter, 1. 19. ¢ 1 Peter, 1. 10-12. 
Q* 


14, THE DUTY oF ὦ 


Farther—the volume of inspiration closes with the 
most extended and intricate portion of the prophetical 
writings, the revelation of John the divine, in the 
commencement, and at the close of which, the 
study of the prophecies it contains is pointedly and 
solemnly commended.- ‘ Blessed is he that readeth, 
and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and 
keep those sayings which are written therein.”* ‘“ And 
if any man shall take away from the words of the 
book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part 
out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and 
from the things which are written in this book.’ 
We know no more likely, or more dangerous way, for 
any one to incur the curse here denounced, than prac- 
tically to disesteem, and to discourage, the study of the 
prophetical writings, by neglecting them altogether. 
It is virtually taking away the whole. 

These considerations will justify this attempt, by 
a series of disquisitions, to induce the study of the 
prophecies. The obligation seems to be so clear and 
strong, as to excite surprise that it should have been 
questioned. Yet, by far the greatest portion, both of 
the ministry and laity, it is to be feared, accord with the 
proverb they had in the land of Israel, “ in the days 
of Ezekiel the prophet,” saying, ‘ The days are pro- 
longed and every vision faileth. The vision that he 
seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of 
the times that are far off.”’{ The very fact of many 
prophecies being unfulfilled, or of difficult and doubt- 
ful interpretation, is pleaded as sufficient reason for 
their being neglected. 

In enforcing the obligation to study the prophecies, 
therefore, the motives appropriate, and furnished by 
the Spirit of God, ought not to be overlooked. He 


* Rev. 1. 3. t Rev. 22, 19. t Ezek. 12. 22. 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 15 


has styled the whole system of prophecy “ a light 
shining in a dark place,” affirmed it to be “a sure 
word,” and given to exert its cheering and enlighten- 
ing influence “ till the day dawn, and the day-star 
arise in our hearts ;’’* that is, it is to be our light till 
the events predicted shall have transpired. The 
apostle Peter compares the knowledge of prophecy to 
the dawn, and morning star. The system itself is the 
midnight lamp, to guide our way, and to comfort us 
in the darkness that enshrouds us. It behoves us to 
take heed to it or study it, till, through our knowledge 
of prophecy, we feel the light break in upon us, like 
the dawn and morning star betokening the approach 
of the rising sun, or, in other words, the realization 
of the things predicted. The force of these motives 
will be most felt, and best appreciated, when it is seen 
how fully they meet and answer the objections com- 
monly urged against the study of the prophecies. 


1. It is objected, THAT MANY EMINENT MINISTERS OF 
THE GOSPEL, ATTACH BUT LITTLE IMPORTANCE TO THE STUDY 
OF THE PROPHECIES, CONFESS THEMSELVES ENTIRELY IGNO- 
RANT OF THE IMPORT OF A LARGE PORTION OF THEM, AND 
PROFESS THEMSELVES SKEPTICAL AS TO THEIR LITERAL FUL- 
FILMENT. It by no means, however, follows from these 
facts, that the prophecies are unimportant, and the 
study of them may be well neglected. It is an argu- 
ment wholly unbecoming a Christian man, to say, that 
this or the other great divine, this or the other good 
man, thinks thus or thus—regards with indifference 
the subject of prophecy, and does not believe in their 
literal fulfilment. The question of chief importance 
with us, should ever be, What doth God say—what 


*2 Peter, 1. 19. 


Ν 


16 ‘OBJECTIONS AGAINST 


is the mind of Jesus Christ—how hath the Spirit testi- 
fied 1 The opinions of men are not the rule of faith; 
not even the opinions of the fathers. They are of 
value no farther than, as matter of history, they help 
‘us to trace to the days of the apostles, what views 
were entertained by those to whom were first com- 
mitted the oracles of God. 

The authority of the fathers has been substituted, 
by the papal and other hierarchies, for the word of 
God. Wherever it has been improperly, supersti- 
tiously, or inordinately regarded, it has led to the 
worst of despotism. No man, no church, is infallible. 
Even the apostles themselves laid claim to no such 
thing. Their word and opinions are no law or au- 
thority, except as they were divinely inspired, and in- 
structed by the Holy Spirit what to testify to the 
churches. Peter differed from Paul in relation to the 
circumcision of the Gentiles—a question involving the 
cardinal doctrine of justification by faith alone in the 
righteousness of Jesus Christ ; and Barnabas was car- 
ried away by Peter’s influence, so that he actually 
abandoned the views which he before held in common 
with Paul: yet were they both wrong; and Paul 
hesitated not to rebuke them.* How foolish and dan- 
gerous, therefore, must it be, to make any man or set 
of men our standard, and to adopt their opinions—no 
matter what may have been their erudition or attain- 
ments in piety, even though they may have been “ pil- 
lars” in the church. It is only wherein any have been 
actually inspired, that their word is authority. 

It is no uncommon thing for men of undoubted 
piety to be slow of heart to believe things predicted, 
which the providence of God afterwards has made so 


* Gal. 2. 12, 14. 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 17 


plain, that it seems wonderful how for one moment 
they could have doubted. Peter was skeptical in re- 
lation to the death of Christ, though He had taken 
pains “to show unto his disciples, how that he must 
go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the 
elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and 
be raised again the third day.”* Here was plain 
minute detail, in the statement of events which were 
literally to transpire; but the things predicted so of- 
fended Peter, that he could not believe them ; and he 
carried his skepticism so far, that he even rebuked the 
Saviour for having thus spoken. The Saviour, how- 
ever, referred Peter’s skepticism to the influence of 
Satan, and rebuked the devil in his mouth. “ Get thee 
behind me, Satan: thou art an offence to me, for thou 
savorest not the things that be of God, but those that 
be of men.” 

In like manner, the two disciples that went to Em- 
maus, and Thomas, were so skeptical in relation to the 
resurrection of Christ, that they would not at first be- 
lieve, even after the prediction had been literally ful- 
filled. The rebuke and reproach of the Saviour pro- 
nounced against the former, “Oh fools and slow of 
heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken,” 
are enough to show the weakness and absurdity of the 
objection, against the study of the prophecies, founded 
on the opinions of great and good men. Deference 
to such authority may suit papists, and high church 
ecclesiastics, to be found in different denominations, 
but it illy becomes those revering His divine authority, 
who has enjoined it on us all, ““ Despise not propesy- 
ings ; but prove all things, and hold fast that which is 
good.’’§ 


* Matt, 16, 21, 22. t Mark, 8. 33. 
t Luke, 24, 25, δ 1 Thess, 5. 20, 21. 


18 OBJECTIONS AGAINST 


2. It is objected again, that while THE sTUDY OF THE 
PROPHECIES ALREADY FULFILLED MAY BE PROPER AND 
USEFUL, THAT OF THE PROPHECIES UNFULFILLED IS BOTH 
USELESS AND DANGEROUS. ‘There is a vast amount 
of, what appears to us, both effrontery and presump- 
tion in such an objection. The objection admits, that 
God has revealed a portion of his will in predictions 
yet unfulfilled. Who then gave the objector a right 
to say, that this portion of his revealed will is of no 
use to us, and dangerous to be studied till fulfilled, 
and therefore may well be neglected? Paul did not 
so teach, when, by the dictation of the Holy Ghost, 
he said “ All scripture is profitable for instruction,”* 
nor Peter when he said, that ‘‘we do well to take 
heed” to the “ more true word of prophecy,’’ and that 
the prophets themselves “ inquired and searched dili- 
gently,” and the holy “angels desire to look into” the 
things predicted.t| The objection contradicts expli- 
citly the testimony of the Holy Spirit. 

Moreover, it undervalues and pours contempt upon 
the experience of a large portion of the church of 
God for centuries. Did the ancient saints, from the 
days of Adam down till the coming of Christ, find it 
useless and dangerous to study unfulfilled prophecy 1 
The time was when all the revelations, which God 
made of a Saviour, and of the way of salvation, were 
predictions not yet fulfilled. What, think you, would 
Seth, and Enoch, and Noah, and Abraham, and Moses, 
and David, and al] the prophets, have thought of such 
an objection? What, too, would have become of the 
church of God, and of the entire human race, if this 
objection had been universally adopted? Hundreds 
and thousands felt the benefit, yea, found their salva- 


* 2 Tim. 3, 16. t 1 Pet. 1, 10-12, and 2 Pet. 1, 19. 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 19 


tion, through the study of unfulfilled prophecy, and 
shall we be told, that it is useless and dangerous 
for us? 

The objection is just as opposed to the universal 
experience of the Christian church, as to that of 
ancient believers. What are the promises given for our 
support and consolation, but unfulfilled prophecy ? 
Many if not all of the most important promises, which 
form the foundation of hope, and serve for our encou- 
ragement and consolation, are part and parcel of the 
system of prophecy, and need, to their right under- 
standing, to our knowledge of the use to be made of 
them, and of our warrant to apply them, that we be 
somewhat acquainted with that system. It is lament- 
able to see the ignorance that prevails on this subject, 
and how arbitrarily, capriciously, and confusedly, the 
promises, especially of the Old Testament, are often 
used and applied by Christians. Ask them for their 
warrant to apply them to their own case and circum- 
stances, and to show how they intelligently extract 
their consolation from them, and they are wholly at 
fault. It is not surprising, that the faith of many 
should be so weak and sickly, when they neither 
understand the true import and bearing of many of 
the most precious promises of the word of God, nor 
how or upon what warrant they can apply them, and 
make use of them, for their own encouragement and 
confirmation. 

The very first promise of mercy to the guilty race 
of man, was a prediction, which, even at this day, has 
not been wholly fulfilled. Multitudes, which com- 
forted the hearts of believers in past ages, and yet are 
fraught with consolation to Christians, remain unful- 
filled. By ‘‘ these exceeding great and precious pro- 
mises” do we ‘become partakers of the divine 


20 OBJECTIONS AGAINST 


nature,” and find the exciting, πέσω and sq@oicing 
influence of the hope of “good things to come”— 
“the recompense of reward’’—the heavenly glory. 
How rash and presumptuous, therefore, is it to tell us, 
that we have no interest in unfulfilled prophecies, and 
that it is dangerous for us tostudy them! Who gave - 
the objector a right to draw a line of distinction here, 
or to say what is a precious promise, and what a use- 
less prediction? It is all precious, and all profitable, 
which God has revealed for our hope and encourage- 
ment, in relation to his church on earth and his king- 
dom to come. 

The objection is founded on a very false assump- 
tion, viz. an alleged impossibility of understanding, 
or judging, of a prediction, till she event has proved its 
meaning. There may be, and indeed are, some pre- 
dictions so cautiously expressed, and so dependent 
on others to be previously fulfilled, as to create some 
difficulty, and require much diligent searching to 
understand them. But does it therefore follow, that 
all unfulfilled prophecy is equally difficult to be com- 
prehended, and our study, even of what is obscure, 
unprofitable and dangerous? The Lord Jesus Christ 
thought otherwise, and Noah, Abraham, the children 
of Israel, and the Christians who escaped to Pella 
during the siege of Jerusalem by the Roman army, 
found it otherwise. 

There is something, in the spirit of this objec- 
tion, which seems to call for a rebuke, as well asa 
reply. Prejudices against the study of unfulfilled 
prophecy have been excited by various means, and all 
said, or preached, or written, on the subject, has been set 
aside with the invidious and sweeping charge of being 
mere speculations. ‘No speculations on prophecy 


and publicly asserted, even by Christian editors; and 
we are gravely told, that the design of God in pro- 
phecy was “‘to assure us of the all-controlling provi- 
dence of God, from the “beginning to the end,” and 
to attest the truth of doctrines coming from the lips of 
prophets and apostles, for the instruction of the 
world.” These, indeed, are some of the results which 
flow from the study of prophecy, but not the leading 
and primary design of God. Peter says expressly, 
the word of prophecy, not the events fulfilling the 
predictions, is a light for us, to supply, in the present 
darkness of our way, and ?z// the things predicted 
occur, the place of the things themselves. It is for 
the support and consolation, the safety and sanctifi- 
eation, of his church that he has given us this light. 
The design that the Saviour had, in giving his pre- 
dictions to his disciples, was, that they should “ take 
heed that no man deceive” them.t Paul expressly de- 
clares, that he delivered his predictions, that Christians 
might “comfort one another with these words,”— 
that they should not be in darkness, but having the 
light, should not “sleep as do others,” but “ watch” 
and “be sober” and “edify one another.”{ Peter 
also declares, that he delivered his predictions to 
forewarn Christians, and to put them on their guard, 
so that, while looking for the very things predicted, 
ye might, says he, “be diligent that ye may be found 
of him in peace without spot and blameless” and not 
misinterpret the long-suffering of God, but account it 
salvation. He admits that there were “things hard to 
be understood” in the prophecies, and especially in 


* The Boston Recorder for Oct. 22, 1841. 
t Mat. 24. 4. t 1 Thess. 4, 13; 5, 11. 
3 


22 OBJECTIONS AGAINST 


those delivered by Paul, which they that are unlearned 
and unstable, as they do also the other Scriptures, 
“wrest to their destruction,” but he would have 
Christians “‘to know these things before, not wait till 
the events fulfilled predictions ; and understand before- 
hand, so as to “ beware lest they should be led away 
by the error of the wicked, and fall from their own 
steadfastness.”* And the angel, whom God sent, in 
answer to Daniel’s prayers and diligent study of un- 
fulfilled prophecy, says expressly, that his design, in 
giving further predictions to him was, “ to make thee 
understand what should befall thy people in the latter 
days.”{ Christ also says, that he told his followers 
what things would come to pass as signs of the com- 
ing of his kingdom, expressly that they might “ xnow”’f 
when it was nigh, i.e. before τὲ arrived. He says, 
also, that he told them things beforehand, which he 
would have them consider, that when they came to 
pass, they might xnow§ who he was, and what he was, 
—the promised Saviour and Deliverer. And John, 
both in the beginning, and at the close, of the book of 
Revelations, declares expressly, that they are given to 
show unto the servants of God beforehand “ things 
which must shortly come to pass.”|| Now, after all 
this, what shall we think of those, who will tell us, 
unfulfilled prophecy needs not to be studied,—is of 
no use, but dangerous—till the events have fulfilled 
them? Assuredly, such instructors deserve reproof, 
and to be sent back to their Bibles, themselves to 
study more carefully lest they should mislead others. 

They have reason to fear, that the charge, and cen- 


* 2 Pet. 3. 14-17. + Dan. 10. 14. 
} Mark, 13. 29; Luke, 21. 31. 
§ John, 13. 19. || Rev. 1. 1; 22. 6. 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 23 


sure of the Saviour, for hypocrisy, may be applicable. 
For, not a few of the unfulfilled prophecies are warn- 
ings against evils to come, with hints as to the way 
in which they may be avoided, and which, in the 
nature of things, must be of no use, if not to be re- 
garded and studied previously to their fulfilment. 
The Pharisees, in the days of Christ, professed to be 
religious, and concerned about heavenly things. 
Their interest in worldly matters led them to discern 
the signs of the weather ; but, although God had deli- 
vered abundant predictions indicating the coming of 
the Messiah, yet they took so little interest in study- 
ing the prophecies, and in watching the signs of 
coming events, that he reproachfully exclaimed : “ Oh 
ye hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky, but 
can ye not discern the signs of the times?”* It was 
the very circumstance of their neglecting prophecy, 
which subjected them to the charge of hypocrisy. It 
proved that they were not in earnest about heavenly 
things, which, nevertheless, they professed to seek 
and admire. 


III. [Ὁ is also objected, THAT EVEN THE APOSTLES, THOUGH 
DIVINELY INSPIRED, WERE GREATLY MISTAKEN IN THEIR 
UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROPHECIES, AND THAT THERE- 
FORE IT MUST DEMAND REQUIREMENTS OF SO LOFTY A 
CHARACTER, AS TO RENDER IT ALMOST, IF NOT ALTOGE- 
THER, IMPOSSIBLE FOR THOSE NOT INSPIRED TO COM- 
PREHEND THEM. 


This objection is founded on a false assumption. 
The apostles did not misunderstand the general scope 
of the prophecies. They confidently looked for the 
coming of Jesus, and for the establishment of his king- 


* Mat. 16. 3.. 


24 OBJECTIONS AGAINST 


dom, and they preached these things wherever they 
went. They did not, indeed, comprehend all the details, 
nor would they speak pointedly as to the time of His 
manifestation. They erred chiefly, in confining their 
attention to one class of predictions, while they over- 
looked those, which showed, that Messiah must first 
suffer, and afterwards enter into His glory, 

Whatever mistakes, however, they made on the sub- 
ject of the predictions, before the resurrection of 
Christ, it does not appear that they erred afterward. 
He was with them forty days after he had risen, 
“ speaking with them of the things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God.” * Even before his death, they 
seem to have had many of their mistakes, about the 
nature of his kingdom, corrected ; for, after having 
carefully instructed them on this subject, by a great 
variety of comparisons and parables, He asked them, 
expressly, ‘Have ye understood all these things? 
and they say unto him, Yea, Lord,’} which he does 
not appear to have doubted. They did, indeed, just 
before his ascension, ask whether that was the period 
when he would “restore the kingdom to Israel,” or, 
in other words, re-establish the Theocracy : but the. 
question does not at all imply, that they mistook its 
nature, or that they even confidently expected it at 
that time. He had told them after they left Galilee, 
to tarry at Jerusalem, and to wait for the promise of 
his Father, of which he had spoken to them, for they 
should be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days 
hence. Upon their re-assembling at Jerusalem, and 
his appearing among them, they naturally inquired, 
whether this baptizing of the Holy Ghost was to. be 
the time, and the way, of the restoration of his king- 


* Acts,'1. 3. Tt Matt. 13.51. ft Acts, 1. 4-8. 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 25 


dom to Israel. He told them that the times and 
seasons were not to be made: known to them, 
but, they should be endowed with power from on 
high, by the Spirit coming on them,* and that they 
should be dispersed, and go forth as his witnesses into 
Judea, and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the 
earth. He very plainly taught them, that the descent 
and gifts of the Holy Spirit were not the kingdom; it 
was something yet future, whose precise date they 
were not to know. Who, therefore, will say, that the 
coming of the Spirit or His influence, was the king- 
dom, and that the apostles ignorantly mistook its na- 
ture? This is to impeach the instruction of Christ as 
utterly inefficacious, to reprove the apostles where He 
did not, and to claim for uninspired men, a knowledge 
of the mysteries of the kingdom, which the apostles 


* v. 8. adda ληψέσθε δύναμιν ἐπελθοντος του ἁγιουπ νευματος ep” ὑμας. 
—The verb here is in the middle voice, and denotes evidently the 
active voluntary apprehension, or co-operation with the Spirit in 
the exercise and use, of the δύναμιν or power. The power, ὁύναμις, 
was not their own natural power, but the miraculous gifts and 
qualifications, for their official work, which should be imparted by 
the Spirit, ἐπελθοντος. The idea clearly is, that the Holy Spirit, the 
personal Spirit, the third person of the Godhead, should put forth 
an efficient influence, imparting miraculous gifts and other influ- 
ence, which they should, as voluntary agents, exercise, and by 
doing so, become active instruments in His hands, co-operating 
with Him in the great work for which they were called and com- 
missioned, i. e. to be witnesses or bear testimony to Jesus Christ. 
This influence of the Spirit, of which they were to be the medium, 
is spoken of in contradistinction from ruling and governing in a 
kingdom. The right apprehension of the doctrine of the Spirit’s 
influence, and especially the possession of that influence, is caleu- 
lated most effectually to rebuke and repress all lust for governmental] 
power with which to rule in the church of God, as though it were 
His kingdom, according to the opinion and spirit of the asserters 
and advocates of “ HiGH CHURCH PRINCIPLES.” 


2% 


26 OBJECTIONS AGAINST. 


had not, and which Christ failed, sisi welsh osetia all 
his pains, to impart to the ἐροῦμεν 

The objection is altogether inconsistent with itself ; ; 
for, to convict the apostles, though inspired, of mistakes, 
it attributes to uninspired men superior knowledgethan 
they had, and then from the mistakes and ignorance of 
the ἀΑδολ ει thus fallaciously inferred, attempts to 
prove the utter impossibility of sh insentrodl men know- 
ing anything on the subject. But, not to take advan- 
tage of such sophistry, the Shjentian, urged from the 
lofty requirements insisted on as necessary to the 
study of the prophecies, is much more imposing than 
real. Modest, humble-minded men, especially plain 
and unlettered persons, are indeed apt to be intimidat- 
ed, when they hear this and the other learned divine 
say, how much reading, and how much learning, and 
how many and various qualifications and endowments 
of mind and spirit are necessary, and are therefore too 
apt to conclude, that to them the prophecies must ever 
be a sealed book. But who, we ask, are they that urge 
these high requirements? Not those that have been 
laborious and studious themselves, but those who-con- 
fessedly know little or nothing on the subject—who 
lay heavy burdens on other men’s shoulders—who 
will not move a finger to lighten them, and who, 
claiming to have the key of knowledge, neither enter 
on the study themselves,nor suffer others that would. 
The essential requirements, in order to the study of 
the prophecies, are not the learning and wisdom of 
the world, but the spirit of faith and love, and that 
lowliness and docility of mind, which, as in Daniel 
and John, will lead to devout aid Seavert study of 
the Sacred Scriptures. 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. OF 


IV. It is further objected ; THAT THE WHOLE SUBJECT OF 
PROPHECY IS SO VAGUE, THAT SO LITTLE CAN BE KNOWN 
WITH CERTAINTY AND SATISFACTION ABOUT IT, THAT IT IS, 
AND MUST BE, TOTALLY DEVOID OF ANY PRACTICAL 
UTILITY. 


Thus speaks the infidel, in reference to the Bible al- 
together. He alleges, with just as much force and 
propriety, the discordant sects and contradictory 
creeds, among the professed believers of the Bible, 
as he does the objection against the study of the prophe- 
cies, because of the insobriety, dogmatism, extrava- 
gance, and speculations of some who have written on 
the subject. There has been just as much, and far 
more vagueness and obscurity, thrown around the doc- 
trines of grace, the subjects of election, justification, 
regeneration, faith, repentance, pardon, the Spirit’s in- 
fluence, assurance of salvation, and eternal life, as 
there can-be alleged to be, in relation to the prophe- 
cies ; and if the confusion and perplexity introduced 
by commentators and writers on the subject, isa valid 
objection against the latter, it is also against the for- ' 
mer. Beware, lest in disparaging the prophecies by 
such objections against their study, you do not take 
the infidel’s ground, and give him a fair pretext for re- 
jecting the Bible altogether. 

It is not the fact, that there is so much obscurity, and 
difficulty to understand the prophecies, as to render 
them totally devoid of practical utility. So far from 
it, the Bible employs the grand theme of prophecy, 
expressly, and in an endless variety of ways, for prac- 
tical uses, exhorting by it to repentance,* to hope,t to 
love,t to obedience,§ to sanctification,|| to mortification 


* Acts, 3. 19, 20. § Matt. 16, 27. 1 John, 2. 28. 
$2 :Peter,.3., 11, 12. | 1 John, 3. 2,3. 2 Pet. 3. 13, 14. 
T 3 ness, 3. 13%. 1 Cor; 16; 22. 


h 
28. “ OBJECTIONS AGAINST 


of fleshly lusts,* to spiritual-mindedness,} to beneficence 
and mercy,t to patience and endurance,§ to watchful- 
ness and soberness,|| to charity in judgment, to minis- 
terial faithfulness and diligence. ** To these and many 
other practical uses is the study of prophecy applied. 

So far from the objection haying truth in it, the fact is, 
that nothing, according to the showing of the Bible, 
has a more practical tendency than this very thing. 


V. It is still objected THAT SOME PERSONS HAVE BECOME 
DERANGED OR FANATICAL, AND UTTERLY DISQUALIFIED 
FOR THE DUTIES OF LIFE BY THE STUDY OF THE PRO- 
PHECIES. 


The like objection. has been urged against religion 
and the study of the Bible altogether. Peculiar 
temperaments,—men of weak minds and strong 
passions,—men of ardent fancies and of doubtful 
piety, may indeed be injured, as some have been, 
when they have turned their thoughts to religion ; but 
these things are not to be referred to the prophecies,— 
nor to the Bible,—nor to religion,—any more than 
the derangements and fanaticism of men in business, 
in literature, and in scientific pursuits, are to be at- 
tributed to themasto their cause. For one Austin, or 
Irving, or others, whose derangement and fanaticism 
have shown themselves on the subject of the study of 
the prophecies, we can point to ten or more, whose 
business and literary and scientific pursuits, have ren- 
dered them insane. The truth is, some minds and 
temperaments are incapable of close and assiduous 
application ; but does it therefore follow, that study 


* Col. 3. 4, ὃ: t Phil. 3. 20, 21. 1 Mat. 25, 31-36. 

ὃ 2Thess. 1. 4-7. Heb. 10. 36,37. James, 5.7,8, 1Pet. 1. 6, 7; 
4, 12, 13. || Matt. 24. 42,44; 25.13. Luke, 12.35,37. Rev. 
16. 15. 1 Thess. 5. 4, 6. @ 1 Cor. 4. 3. ** Matt. 24. 46. 
1 Tim. 6. 13,14. 2 Tim. 4. 1,2. 1Thess.2. 19, 1 Pet. 5. 1-4, 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 29 


and business must be abandoned by all? This objection 
is exceedingly frivolous. 


VI. ΤῊΕ wILD EXTRAVAGANT NOVELTY OF WHAT IS CALLED 
MODERN THEORIES. ON THE SUBJECT OF THE PROPHECIES 


IS OFTEN ALLEGED AS AN OBJECTION AGAINST THEIR STUDY. 


This term theory, is generally used, by those who are 
but little conversant with the study, and is generally 
applied to the views of those, who believe and teach 
the personal coming and glorious appearance of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, prior and preparatory to the intro- 
duction of the Millenium, and the establishment of the 
kingdom of Heaven on earth, through the glorious 
reign, of Christ and of his risen saints. This is the 
view intended to be unfolded in these pages, and in 
reference to it, it is, at the very outset, denied, that 
there is any theory about it. [115 ἃ simple question 
of fact which is proposed for discussion, viz. does 
the Bible, or does it not, teach the premillenial 
coming of Christ? So far from having adopted a 
theory on the subject, the views that shall be exhibited 
have been the result of careful and painful study 
of the Sacred Scriptures, and have forced themselves 
upon the author’s mind, not as the reasonings, or 
ἐς speculations,” or theories of men, but as the testi- 
mony of God, interpreted on principles of common’ 
sense, the very principles of interpretation which the 
Bible itself confirms. As to the charge of wild and 
extravagant novelty it may suffice to state, that so 
far from its applying to the doctrine of the pre- 
millenial advent of Christ, history will show, that 
no other belief obtained in the Christian church 
for nearly three centuries after the death .of Christ ; 
and that the present popular and prevailing notion of 
a Millenium, consisting of the universal triumph of the 


30 OBJECTIONS AGAINST 


gospel among all nations, and of a high degree of 
religious prosperity for 1,000 yéars before the coming 
of Christ, is itself the novelty, being of very recent 
origin, and receiving no countenance, either from the 
reformers, the fathers, the apostles, Christ Himself, 
or the prophets before him. 

The objections noticed are chiefly those to be found 
in the mouths of professing Christians. A word in 
conclusion, in relation to that urged by the infidel, 
who alleges that the prophecies of Scripture are 
of no more value than those of the Pagan oracles; and 
are either so vague and ambiguous, as to be incapable 
of any well-defined interpretation, or have been written 
after the event. 

Porphyry, a great enemy to Chaitidaiegy who 
flourished in the second century, urged the latter part 
of this objection, as the only answer he could make to 
the argument in favor of religion from the prophecies 
of Daniel... So far, however, from alleging that they 
were vague and unintelligible, he censured Origen, and 
as we think, very justly, for forsaking the plain and 
obvious import of the Jewish Scriptures, and sub- 
stituting ‘“‘ expositions,” of what, in the pride of his in- 
fidelity, he called. their “absurdities inconsistent with 
themselves, and.inapplicable to the writings. He was 
always, says Porphyry of this great scholar, in com- 
pany with Plato, and had the works also of Numenius 
and Cranius, of Apollophanes and Longinus, of Mode- 
ratus and Miromachus, and others whose writings are 
valued, in his hands. He also read the works of 
Charemon the Stoic, and those of Cornutus. From 
these he derived the allegorical mode of interpretation 
usual in the mysteries of the Greeks, and applied it to 
the Jewish Scriptures.* 


* Euseb. Hist. Eccles., lib. vi. cap. 9. 


STUDYING THE PROPHECIES. 31 


It was the strict, literal, historical accuracy of the 
prophetical writings of the Old Testament, which 
forced Porphyry to deny their genuineness, as the best 
and only way, in which he could waive the force of the 
argument, taken from them, in favor of divine revelation. 
Both Porphyry and Celsus have long since been 
refuted, and the authority, of Daniel, and of the Old 
and New Testaments, irrefutably established. If our 
modern infidels are ignorant of the fact, and now 
revive and urge objections long since exploded, it is only 
one among the many proofs we have, that ignorance 
is the greatest enemy with which Christianity has to 
combat. But little is to be feared from the ignorance 
of the infidel. Far more is to be dreaded from the 
ignorance of professed Christians. It is not with the 
former, that these disquisitions are so much concerned, 
as with the latter, whose neglect of their Bibles, and 
whose ignorance of the great and wonderful things 
contained in them, are a reproach to the religion they 
profess. : 

The prophetical portions of the Sacred Scriptures 
commend themselves to our study, by the most cogent 
arguments. ‘They are in fact God’s exposition of our 
hope, holding forth the great objects presented to the 
attention of our faith, and promised for our future 
enjoyment. They area beacon light, in times of storm 
and agitation on the great ocean of human life, thrown 
out to guide us as we navigate, and to warn us of the 
breakers on dangerous coasts. They are the pledge 
and dawnings of the glory to be realised by us. The 
careful and prayerful study of the prophetical writings, 
cannot be neglected without incurring guilt, and ren- 


dering us justly liable to the righteous condemnation of 
God. 


CHAPTER Il. 
THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


TxE duty of studying the prophecies having been 
proved expressly from the word of God, and the fal- 
lacy of the objections commonly urged against it 
having been exposed, a question of deep interest pre- 
sents itself, viz. “can they be understood?” On this 
subject many doubt, and their doubts contribute not a 
little to the practical neglect of the prophetical writ- 
ings. These doubts often arise from, and are justified, 
in the opinion of many, by the different expositions 
given by different commentators. These expositions, 
it is alleged, depend on different principles of inter- 
pretation ; and, in the midst of most discordant sys- 
tems, and rules often adopted most arbitrarily, what, 
it is asked, is to become of the plain unlettered 
student? - 

This objection may be urged, with as much pro- 
priety, against the study of any other portion of the 
Scriptures, as against the prophecies. Historical nar- 
ratives have been pronounced allegories,—a mystical 
meaning has been substituted for or enveloped in the 
literal,—what has been called par excellence the spi- 
RITUAL has claimed preference above that of common 
sense, and the recondite been sought after with eager- 
ness, to the neglect of the obvious. The infidel has 
therefore turned away with contempt from the Bible 
altogether ; and the advocates of the papal hierarchy 
have taken occasion to assert the claim of the Roman 


THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 33 


pontiff to be the infallible interpreter, and to prescribe 
magisterially opinions and matters of faith for the 
minds and consciences of men. Even the grand fun- 
damental rule of interpretation which the apostle 
Peter has inculcated, has been plead in support of 
such arrogant pretensions, and men have been prohi- 
bited from the study of the word of God, because He 
has said that “no prophecy of Scripture is of any 
private interpretation,’* as though the decisions of 
his Holiness ave to be accounted oracular, authori- 
tative, and final. 

The reference is most unfortunate. It furnishes no 
proof, in support either of the inexplicable nature of 
prophecy, or of the oracular gift of the self-styled 
successors of Peter. So far from Peter claiming for 
himself to be the infallible interpreter of Paul, whose 
predictions he confessés were hard to be understood, 
he admits the right of every one to examine and study 
for himself, though he says that “the unlearned and 
unstable wrest them to their own destruction,’ adding 
that this charge is not confined exclusively to their 
use of the prophecies, but is just as true in their per- 
version of “the other Scriptures.”t If he, in the 
days of his apostolical authority, gave no hint what- 
ever of an infallible interpreter, either in himself or 


* 2 Peter, 1. 20. 

12 Peter, 3.16. The admission of Peter has been sometimes 
employed very incorrectly and injuriously. He does not mean that 
Paul’s style or language, his modes of reasoning or of writing, 
have anything peculiar in them, which, as pieces of composition, 
render his epistles obscure and difficult to be understood. His lan- 
guage is ev bis (not επίστολαις, but rpaypact,) εστι dvovonra τινα; and 
the meaning is, that there were some things, some subjects or facts, 
brought into view by Paul, in his epistles, which were difficult to 
be understood, and liable to be wrested. His reference is to the 
coming and kingdom of Christ, as this verse shows. 


4. 


34 THE SYSTEM. 


in the other apostles, it is usurpation of the worst 
description to maintain that a living-oracle has been 
perpetually established in a succession of Roman 
bishops. Equally preposterous and arrogant is it, to 
elaim for the church, or for any other hierarchy, au- 
thority. in these matters. All such ambitious preten- 
sions Peter utterly overthrows, by laying down a plain 
rule of interpretation to assist the private Christian 
to interpret. for himself, in all matters of general 
importance, “the written oracles of prophecy.” 

It is of chief moment, at this stage of our investi- 
gations, to observe, that the apostle does distinctly 
recognize some rule or standard of interpretation, 
and refers private Christians as well as others to. it, 
for the correct. understanding of that ‘ more. sure 
word. of prophecy,” ‘to which,” he says, “ wedo 
well to take heed.” What is that system 2 

Two very different, and in some respects, antago- 
nistical systems are, and have been for centuries 
adopted by commentators. They may be designated 
the literal and the spiritual. By the Litera, we under- 
stand that system which assumes the LITERALITY, or 
HISTORICAL REALITY of the events predicted, and»re- 
sorts to the grammatical interpretation of the lan- 
guage of prophecy to determine its meaning. By the 
SPIRITUAL we understand that system which assumes the 
SPIRITUALITY of the events predicted. It traces some- 
thing analogous, it may be, to the literal, but entirely 
different from it, and peculiar, of which the literal may 
be employed as the representative or allegorical ex-° 
hibition. THE LirERAL is what Ernesti, in his.“ Tracts 
on the Interpretation of the Scriptures,” has called 
the grammatical; and THE sPiRITUAL, the mystic, me- 
taphysical, or philosophical. 

The grammatical method “adheres to the words, and 


Ε OF INTERPRETATION. 35 


directs us to comprehend ¢hings through the medium 
of words, and not words through the medium of 
things.”* The mystic or spiritual is that “ which 
philosophizes rather than interprets, and prefers to 
be metaphysical rather than grammatical, or, as it is 
uncouthly expressed, real rather than verbal.” His 
meaning is, that the grammatical or literal interpre- 
tation, which is concerned with the proper meaning 
of words, ‘‘ proceeds entirely upon grammatical prin- 
ciples,” and is first, in all casés, to bé resorted to, to 
know what are the things which the writer asserts or 
méans ; but that the mystic or spiritual interpretation 
inverts this order, and undertakes to determine the 
meaning of words by preconceived notions about the 
things. — 

_ Right interpretation, Ernesti contends, “ depends 
entirely upon the knowledge of words,” with great 
force inquiring, ‘Fur what is the business of inter- 
pretation, but to make known the signification and 
sense of words? And in what does the signification 
and sense of words consist, but in the notions at- 
tached to each word? ‘This connection between the 
words and ideas, in itself arbitrary, has been fixed by 
usage and custom. And what art, but that of the 
gramiarian, is employed in discovering and teaching 
this usage and custom of speech, especially of the 
dead languages? To the grammarian this business 
has been conceded by every age. For the knowledge 
of this usage depends entirely upon observation, and 
not upon the nature of things ascertained by necessary 
‘inference in any science. Theologians are right, 
therefore; when they affirm the literal sense, or that 
which is derived from the knowledge of words, to be 


* Bib. Reper., vol. iii. p.125. 


36 THE sYsTEM 


the only true one; for that mystical sense, which, in- 
deed, is incorrectly called a sense, belongs altogether 
to the thing, and not to the words. The former, ac- 
cordingly, which is the only true sense, they denomi- 
nate the grammatical, and some also, as Sixtus, of 
Sienna, because it is ascertained by an observation of 
facts, style it the historical sense.’’* 

An example, by way of illustration, may make, this 
description intelligible even to the feeblest mind. 
Suppose that certain commentators should assume, 
as it was done in the days of the apostles, that the 
resurrection of the body is a thing not to be compre- 
hended, involving a thousand difficulties and mysteries 
altogether incredible ; and suppose that, prepossessed 
with this metaphysical or theological notion, they 
should undertake to interpret the New Testament 
declarations on the subject. The-grammatical inter- 
pretation would enable them to elicit no other sense 
than the literal fact, that Jesus Christ had risen from 
the dead, and that, in like manner, the bodies of his 
saints should also be raised. Whatever difficulty they 
might think there was in believing the thing, the 
grammatical interpretation would not obviate it, but 
only present it in the strongest manner. Some other 
method of explaining the language, therefore, would 
have to be resorted to. The spiritual, mystical, or 
theological interpretation, which would enable them 
to bring their preconceived notions about the impossi- 
bility, absurdity, and incomprehensibility of a literal 
resurrection of the body, to bear on the passages, 
would at once suggest the explanation, actually given 
in the apostles’ days, viz. “that the resurrection is 
past already,” whatever of literal resurrection of the 


*Bib. Reper., vol. iii. p. 126. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 


body there may have been, having been ΠΝ ΤῊΝ 


in'that of Jesus Christ, ae the resurrection of hiss” L4 


saints being but allopiorieak i. e. their regeneration 
and rising, as it were, from the death of trespasses 
and sins to newness of life. This would be spiritual 
interpretation in opposition*to literal. 

Origen affords abundant specimens of this sort of 
spiritual interpretation. Although the best qualified, 
among the Greek fathers, by a knowledge of the 


Hebrew language, for the grammatical interpretation 


of the Old Testament, and although he actually did 


much, by his Hexapra, to facilitate the labors οὗ 


grammatical interpreters, nevertheless he allowed 
himself to mingle his philosophical, metaphysical, and 
theological notions about the things asserted, in deter- 
mining the meaning of many passages, and deviated 
most widely from the principles of grammatical inter- 
pretation. Thus he has furnished an example, which 
has been copied in every age, and contributed im- 
mensely, by his allegorical meaning, to introduce 
endless confusion into the interpretation of the Scrip- 
tures. Epiphanius says, and very truly,-that, by his 
erroneous doctrinal views concerning faith, and his 
mal-interpretation of many passages of the Scriptures, 
he did a serious injury to the world at large.* Even 
Ernesti, his apologist, is forced to confess “ that Ori- 
gen pressed the matter too far through a fondness for 
allegory, since in some passages he acknowledges no 
other than theallegorical sense. But adds, he séems 
to have come to this pitch of folly when he was now 
advanced in years, and after he had bestowed gram- 
matical labor upon the sacred writings.” f 


* De Pond. et Mens., c. 7. 
+ Bib. Reper., vol. iii. p. 269. 


4,* 


38 THE SYSTEM) 


The radical difference, between the literal and spi- | 
ritual interpretation, is nowhere more striking, or 
important, than on the great themes of prophecy, 
designed to be brought into view in these disquisitions, 
viz. the coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ. That 
the Sacred Scriptures speak of a second coming of the 
blessed Redeemer, and of a kingdom to be established 
at his coming, will not be denied. But how is that 
coming to be understood’? and what is meant by his. 
kingdom’? The grammatical interpretation says, lite- 
rally and truly, i. e. the second coming of Christ will 
take place, actually and visibly, as truly a matter of. 
observation as was his first coming, long since become 
a matter of history, and the kingdom of Christ, a domi- 
nion which he will then establish in this world, as 
truly a matter of sensible observation, as was the The-. 
ocracy once established in Israel. Now, if it should 
be thought, by any metaphysical or theological com- 
mentator, that these things are incredible, and impos- 
sible to be believed and understood, or that they are, 
in themselves, absurd, foolish and visionary, of course, 
instead of taking the literal, grammatical interpreta- 
tion as true, they will look for another and more recon- 
dite meaning,—some mystic or allegorical interpre- 
tation, as the only means of reconciling the language 
of the Bible with their previous notions. That is, 
they will make the things, according to their own 
metaphysical or theological notion of them, explain 
the words, and not suffer the words to guide them in 
their notion of the things. 

It must be obvious to every one, at first sight, how 
greatly the two systems differ, and how widely differ- 
ent, too, must be the results obtained from them. The 
former or literal interpretation was adopted by Mede, 
Sir Isaac Newton, Bishops Newton and Horseley, and 


OF INTERPRETATION. 39 


other distinguished writers on prophecy. ‘The latter, 
or the spiritual interpretation, was avowed by Bishop 
Hurd, and finds most favor with the great body of the 
ministry at the present day, in these United States. 
‘‘It may be proper,” says Bishop Hurd in his Lec- 
tures on Prophecy, “ to observe that the second advent 
of the Messiah -is not, like the first, confined to one 
single and precise period, but is gradual and succes- 
sive. This distinction is founded in the reason of the 
thing. He could only come ἐῶ person at one limited 
time: Hecomesin his power and providence through 
all ages of the church. . His first coming was then. 
over when he expired on the cross. His second com- 
menced with his resurrection, and will continue to 
the end of the world. So-~that this last coming of 
Jesus is to be understood of his Spirit and kingdom ; 
which is not one act of sovereignty exerted at once, 
but a state or constitution of government, subsisting 
through a long tract of time, unfolding itself by just 
degrees, and coming, as oft as the conductor of it 
thinks fit to interpose, by any signal acts of his admi- 
nistration.”’* | 
We give this as the fairest and best specimen of. 
their views, who reject the literal, and prefer the spi- 
ritual interpretation. Every one can see that it is, 
in the strictest sense, philosophical, founded, as the 
Bishop says, IN THE REASON oF THINGS,—of which, of 
course, he is the judge, and liable to err. , The first 
~ advent was confined to a precise time, the second, 
he says, could not be,—but why not, he has not even 
hinted. Yet, on this metaphysical basis,—the impossi-, 
bility, in his view, of its being a literal coming, has 
he reared a vast spiritual system, the mediatorial pro- 


* Hurd’s Lect. on Proph., p. 102. 


4 THE system ! 


viderice of Jesus Christ; and his dispensation of the 
Spirit, in the progress of its development, as being the 
thing we are to understand by the words of prophecy, 
viz. the coming and kingdom of Christ. This is making 
preconceived notions of things, the interpreters of the 
words, directly in violation of Ernesti’s principle, 
instead of gathering, from the words, the idea of 
what the coming and kingdom of Christ are to be. 
It is unquestionably allegorizing, and of the same gene- 
ral nature with the interpretations of Neological doc- 
tors,—divines who, assuming that there could have been 
no such things as miracles, and going with this notion 
to the Scriptures, allow themselves any and every 
licence of imagination to explain the language of the 
evangelists, describing the preternatural works of 
Christ, as though they meant to assert no miracle, 
but related mere natural phenomena. 

Very different were the views of the learned "Di 
Dodwell, who observes: “We should neither, with 
some, interpret it into allegory, nor depart from the 
literal sense of Scripture, without an absolute neces- 
sity for so doing,”—which, it may be remarked, is’ 
not the case here. “ Neither should we with others,”’ 
he adds, “ indulge an extravagant fancy, nor explain too 
curiously the manner and circumstances of this future 
state”—as was done by many, in their sensual deserip- 
tions of Christ’s kingdom. “ It is safest and best, faith- 
fully to adhere to the words of Scripture, or to fair 
deductions from Scripture, and to rest contented with 
a general account, till time shall accomplish and eclair- 
cise all the particulars.” Still more pointed is the 
learned Vitringa; who, in a tract on the Interpreta- 
tion of Prophecy, first published in Latin in 1716, lays 
it down as a fundamental canon: “ We must never 
depart from the literal meaning of the subject mentioned 


OF INTERPRETATION. 41 


in its Own appropriate name, 0. all or its principal 
attributes square with the subject of the prophecy—an 
unerring canon, he adds, and of great use.”* 

These quotations may suffice for the general pre- 
sentation of the two systems of interpretation. We 
adopt the LITERAL in preference to the ALLEGORICAL, 
for reasons we proceed to state. 


I. Ir 15 THE MosT NATURAL, CONSISTENT, AND SATISFAC- 
TORY MODE OF INTERPRETATION, AND THEREFORE COM- 
MENDS ITSELF TO THE COMMON SENSE OF MANKIND. 


By the common sense of mankind, a thing often 
spoken of, frequently misunderstood, and by many 
abused, we mean nothing more nor less than the judg- 
ment of men, under the guidance of their unsophisti- 
cated, unperverted reason, in matters which legiti- 
mately fall within its sphere, and for judging of which 
it is competent. If asked to definé it, we would say, 
that common sense is the common judgment of human 
reason, in matters about which it is competent to 
judge. We claim not the power for the human mind 
to excogitate the truths of revelation. Nor is it admis- 
sible to form our ἃ priori judgment, on the nature of 
facts and phenomena, and in the light of our philo- 
sophical theories, and explanations of their guo modo, 
determine the meaning of the language of Scripture. 
We judge of God’s meaning, and of the facts he states, 
as we do in other matters. 

The great mass of readers instinctively adopt this 
very system. They naturally first inquire into the 
meaning of words, and that for the purpose of ascer- 
taining what the writer asserts or teaches. In all - 
matters of science also, the same course is pursued. 
All technical expressions, or terms of art, are first 


* Typus Doctrine Prophetice, Canon III. 


42 THE ΒΥ ΒΤ ΕΜ 


earefally defined, or theit meaning previously settled, 
before a man deems himself at all competent to wnder- 
stand the subject of which it treats. When addressed 
by another, whether in the set harangue, the popular 
oration, ‘or familiat converse, we all most naturally 
apprehend his meaning, according to the common, 
prevailing, grammatical import of his terms. 

We never dream of applying other rules of inter- 
pretation, until we are distinctly and formally apprised, 
that the author’s or speaker’s words conceal a recondite 
meaning, and his terms are used in a sense different 
from. their common and obvious import. When 
this is the case, and a man writes or speaks to us, 
making use of words in some peculiar, mystic, con- 
cealed, or allegorical sense, we feel disappointed, and 
somewhat irritated, unless he is very careful to ap- 
prise us distinctly τ the fact, and to give us a key by 
which to unlock his meaning. Nor will this always 
satisfy. The question will come up,—“ Why should 
he thus speak? What is the use of perverting the 
import of terms, and wishing to be understood in a 
sense quite different from the common and obvious 
import of his language?” Persons engaged in plots 
of treason, of fraud or treachery, or in danger of their 
lives if detected, may perhaps feel satisfied, and un- 
derstand the reason and necessity of such secret cor- 
respondence. But there must always be some special 
design, or obviously important use, to be subserved by 
such a style of language, to justify it, or even to sug- 
gest it; and then the import of terms must be well 
settled whee the parties. 

Now the whole volume of Revelation is delivered to 
us in styles of speech with which men in general are 
familiar, and is therefore to be interpreted in the very 
same way by which we discover the meaning of other 


OF INTERPRETATION. 43 


books. The prophetical parts of .it possess the same 
character. The idea that prophecy is peculiar, and 
affects styles of speech different from all other writ- 
ings, has led to much confusion and. error in imter- 
pretation. It is the favorite notion of. all enthu- 
siasts and mystics, and especially of — Sweden- 
borgians. | 

There may be, and are, occasionally, phrases and 
passages, the import of which is not immediately ob- 
vious—some that are ambiguous—and some, too, that 
must, be understood by the rules of rhetoric, applica- 
ble to tropes and figures of speech. It is true, too, 
that there is also a style of speech, which may be justly 
called symbolical, and having its own appropriate 
meaning. But, in these respects, the language of the 
Bible, and of prophecy, is not peculiar; and the gene- 
ral principles of what is called grammatical interpreta- 
tion, are abundantly sufficient to satisfy us as to their 
meaning. We never think of applying any other rules 
of interpretation, than those admitted to be correct, in 
reference to the ordinary forms of prosaic or poetic 
style and diction, or even where symbols are preferred 
for the purpose of instruction. ‘ There is in fact,” 
says Ernesti, with great truth, “but one and the same 
method of interpretation common to all books, what- 
ever be their subject. And the same grammatical 
principles and precepts ought to be the common guide _ 
in the interpretation of 41]. ἢ 

It behoves the advocates of the allegorical or spiritua! 
interpretation, therefore, to show that the Bible is pecu- 
liar, and different from all other books, having its own 
particular rules of interpretation, by which to detect the _ 


* Bib. Rep. 3. 131. See also Manual of Sacred Interpretation, 
by Dr. M’Clelland, p. 10. 


44 THE system! 


hidden meaning of its language. And it further 
behoves them to give us, from the Bible itself, the 
key to its meaning, those private definitions and hints 
which will enable the reader to determine when 
the meaning is to be taken in a sense quite foreign 
from its natural and literal, or grammatical import. 
This has never yet been done. It is true we have 
been told that the literal meaning is the lowest and 
most unimportant—that there’is a style of speech 
peculiar to God alone—that when He speaks He is 
not to be understood in the ordinary sense of the 
terms He uses, but in some recondite spiritual sense— 
and that to understand which, a new faculty is neces- 
sary, or power to be imparted by the direct illumination 
or new creating agency of the Holy Ghost. And itis 
true, too, that some have even affected to be greatly 
shocked, and struck with horror, by the alleged impi- 
ety of those who have dared to say, that God has 
spoken to us in familiar language, and is to be under- 
stood, according to the dictates of common sense, upon 
principles of grammatical interpretation. But this 
feeling is the result of education sustained by a 
peculiar theology, fostered by a particular cast of 
preaching, and by no means natural and common. On 
the contrary, the spiritualising or allegorising of the 
Bible, is, to the great mass, as offensive as it is unin- 
telligible ; nor is it ever favorably received, till mis- 
taken views of piety, of the very nature of inspira- 
tion, and of spiritual illumimation, have led men to 
renounce their common sense. 

Who does not see how disgusting and ridiculous 
the Bible must become, when interpreted by allegoris- 
ing and spiritualising commentators, who, in every 
historical incident, prophecy, parable, or poem, are 
looking for a philosophical, or for a recondite spiritual 


OF INTERPRETATION. | 45 


meaning ἢ. We see no difference, as far as the princi- 
ples of interpretation are concerned, between the Unita- 
rian who tells us that the stories of the paradisiacal 
state and fall of Adam, of the temptation of Christ, 
and other historical matters in the Bible, are mere 
fables or allegories, and the Neologist, who, assuming 
the language of the sacred writer to be often that of 
the superstitious vulgar, or of the extravagant poet, 
accounts for every miracle upon natural principles, 
and the ignorant Mystic who sees no use or value in 
the Bible, but as he can give a spiritual gloss to its 
historical and literal statements. Our common sense, 
in each case, is insulted. We feel disappointed; and 
the Bible is concluded to be a most uncertain and 
unsatisfactory book, just as truly, when, with the Uni- 
tarian we allegorize, the Neologist we philosophize, the 
Swedenborgian we spiritualize, as when with the Mys- 
tic we lose sight of plain history, and seek a recon- 
dite theological or spiritual meaning, as did that inter- 
preter who made “the man going down from Jerusa- 
lem to Jericho (to be) Adam wandering in the 
wilderness of this world ; the thieves who robbed and 
wounded him, evil spirits; the priest who passed by 
on the other side without relieving him, the Levitical 
law; the Levite, good works; the good Samaritan, 
Christ ; the oil and the wine, grace, ὅς. ἢ | 
Such allegorising, for theological uses, is altogether 
gratuitous and censurable; and such must the alle- 
gorising, or spiritual interpretation of prophecy be 
considered, till it is shown that the Spirit of God, in 
the mouth of the prophets, meant something very dif- 
ferent from what their language imports, when that lan- 


* See Elementary Principles of Interpretation of J. A. Ernesti, 
by Moses Stuart. 3d ed. p. 79. 
5 


46 THE system | 
guage is interpreted grammatically, i. e. according to 
rhetorical rules applicable to their several styles of 
speech. 


II. THe LITERAL OR GRAMMATICAL INTERPRETATION IS FAR 
MORE DEFINITE AND CERTAIN, AND FAR LESS LIABLE 
TO THE CHARGE OF VAGUENESS AND THE VAGARIES 
OF MEN’S IMAGINATIONS, THAN THE SPIRITUAL OR AL- 
LEGORICAL. 


“Tt will be acknowledged by all ae would avoid 
the imputation of dulness in logical matters,” as Er- 
nesti has well remarked, “ that whatever, in any 
department of science, is certain and absolutely free 
from doubt, possesses this character of certainty from 
some necessity belonging to the thing itself; not in- 
deed a necessity invariably the same in all cases, but 
such as the nature of the thing admits; so that the 
certainty of interpretation is derived from some neces- 
sity of signification. That there exists such a neces- 
sity of signification in words will easily be seen.. For 
the connection between ideas and words, although at 
first arbitrary and unconstrained, nevertheless, when 
once fixed by use and custom, it becomes necessary, 
and preserves its necessity so long as this use and 
custom continue. It is left to our option, for ex- 
ample, whether to describe two parallelograms upon 
the same base and of the same altitude, or not. But 
as soon as we give the same base and altitude to both, 
the necessity of equality immediately follows, which 
is again removed when this condition is taken away. 
Nor do the frequent changes, to which the usage of 
speech is liable, and which, in all languages, 50 long 
as they continue to be spoken, are owing to various 
causes, destroy this necessity. For, as, in speaking 
of the usage of speech, we wish to be understood as 


OF INTERPRETATION. 47 


inquiring in what sense each word was employed, in 
each particular age, by every description of men, and 
in a certain connection; so also we understand the 
necessity of signification in words to be determined 
by the same circumstances of time and place. [If 
these be changed a new necessity is induced. 
Wherefore, since the act of the grammarian alone 
ascertains and teaches this usage of speech, it follows, 
that from the knowledge of that art alone, a sure 
method of interpretation is to be sought, both in 
human writings and the inspired volume, so far as this 
is to be understood by human effort. Bat this point 
has already been decided by the most distinguished 
theologians and interpreters of the sacred books; and 
by their decision we ought certainly to abide, lice 
it has been the result of reasonings so clear and 
necessary. It was said by Melancthon, that the Scrip- 
tures could not be understood theologically, without 
first of all being understood grammatically ; and, in 
support of this assertion, he argues in very many 
places. Camerarius also, an eminently great man, 
urges, more than once, the same sentiment. But, 
omitting all other authorities, no one more earnestly 
or frequently commends the study of the original 
languages, which is altogether grammatical, and. de- 
clares, that in it consists all true interpretations of the 
sacred books, than the illustrious Luther: particularly 
in that golden epistle, which he wrote concerning the 
establishment of schools throughout the German 
states; in which, among other things against the 
Waldenses, who despised the knowledge of languages 
ἢ sacred things, and attributed everything to divine 
influence, he writes as follows: ‘ Spirit here or Spirit 
there, what signifies it? 1 also have been in the Spirit, and 
have also seen spiritual things (if a man may be per- 


4.8 gue system! 


mitted to boast of himself) more, perhaps, than these 
same persons will see for a year to come, however they 
may glory. My spirit also hasaccomplished somewhat. 
But this I know, full well, that how much soever we 
are dependent on spiritual influences, I had been left 
entirely unmolested by my vigilant adversaries, if the 
languages had not come to my assistance, and afforded 
me confidence in the Scriptures. I might also have 
been very pious, and have preached well in retirement 
and quietness, but I must then have left the pope, and 
the sophists, and the whole regiment of their fol- 
lowers, just where they were. The devil gives himself 
much less concern about my spirit than about my tongue 
and pen. For my spiritual exercises take from him 
nothing but myself alone, whereas the knowledge of 
the Scriptures and of the sacred languages makes the 
world too narrow for him, and strikes at his king- 
dom.’ Let such then asaim really to be, as well as 
to be accounted emulators of his example, respect the 
authority of this experienced man, without heeding 
those upstart advocates of ignorance, who recom- 
mend them to pursue that way to proficiency in inter- 
pretation, which conducts to the meaning and sense 
of words, through the knowledge of things. For, in 
this method of interpretation, it is impossible that 
either the necessity, of which we have already spoken, 
or the certainty, which should principally be aimed at 
in the interpreting, can exist. The reason is obvi- 
ous. For who does not see, that a sense may be 
true in itself, which is not, however, conveyed by the 
words under consideration.”* 

How much of scriptural interpretation possesses this 
character! Multitudes of promises and predictions are 


* Bib. Rep., iii. 129-132. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 49 


applied for various purposes of Christian experience, 
consolation and practice; and truths, exceedingly 
grateful and refreshing, are often presented; in the 
very language of the Scriptures, when the passages, 
interpreted grammatically, and the mind and meaning 
of the writer thus obtained, are widely different. | 

The extent to which this thing was carried, in the 
days of Cromwell, and the extravagancies to which it 
has led, at different times, and in different grades and 
states of society, cannot have escaped the notice of 
those acquainted with history. A text of Scripture, 
suddenly brought to recollection and powerfully im- 
pressed upon the mind, has been conceived to be the 
token of the Spirit’s special agency. Although the 
words could easily be accommodated to the circum- 
stances by a lively imagination, yet the truth taught 
in the text, viewed in its connection, had no relation 
whatever to them. The appositeness of the language, 
and the actual adaptation of it to the case and circum- 
stances of the individual by the aid of his fancy, have 
been practically regarded as the intimation of the 
Spirit, and men have essayed to act as though 
they had been divinely instructed, and have dismissed 
all further care about the future, or attempt to esti- 
mate their duty. Fanatical views and practices, in 
reference to prayer, have hence been originated, 
and fostered by such fallacious assumptions. The 
authority of direct Revelation, and the fact of per- 
sonal inspiration, have been plead, and all attempts to 
get men to look at the passage of Scripture in its 
proper connection, to ascertain thus the mind of the 
Spirit, and to bring their chastened judgment to the 
consideration of the word and promises of God, have 
been utterly ineffectual. 

The subjects of such impressions commonly claim 

δ᾽ 


50 THE sYSTEM! 


to be taught directly by the Spirit of God; and, to 
honor that teaching, they therefore féel themselves 
ealled upon to pour contempt on every effort to 
bring them to a sober and dispassionate examination, on 
ordinary principles of exegesis, of the passages of Serip- 
ture by which they are impressed, that they may thus 
determine whether it warranted them to judge, hope, 
or act, as they felt impressed to do. Rationality 
gives way, and the inspiration of the Spirit is claimed 
as the licence for reveries, extravagance, folly, and 
fanaticism. ‘The biography of not a few, in the days 
of the puritans and since, might be οἶδά in. proof of 
these things.” 

The whole subject of Christian experience has been 
mixed up with, and shaped, sometimes, in the history 
of individuals, by means of allegorical interpretations, 
of historical passages of Scripture ; and an use, wholly 
unwarranted, has been made of them as vehicles of in- 
spired instruction in matters of personal interest, and 
on points utterly foreign from the design of the Spirit in 
them. Halyburton’s Memoirs, though teeming with 
valuable matter on the subject of Christian experience, 
nevertheless is fruitful in specimens of this sort of 
accommodating Scripture promises, precepts, and 
statements, by means of a strong and lively fancy. 
Wesley took a shorter course, and substituted the use 
of the lot for the aid of memory and the play of the 
imagination.t| ‘There is reason to fear that there is 
much, very much of these things to be found among 
professing Christians still, and that not a few quote, 
plead, believe, and apply promises, the genuine and 
legitimate import of which they know not, and care 


* See Huntingdon’s Bank of Faith. 
t See Southey’s Life of Wesley. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 51 


not to understand, nor their warrant to appropriate 
them, but construe plain historical facts and state- 
ments into special spiritual revelations made to them, 
while utterly ignorant and reckless of the principles 
of Providence embodied in them, and of the true 
and proper principles of biblical exegesis. 

It is not enough that a sentiment should be in itself 
true, nor that the language can be happily accommo- 
dated to express it. In order to correct interpreta- 
tion, it must be, demonstrably, the very sentiment the 
sacred writer intended to teach by the words he 
spoke. But it is obvious, if words have no definite 
meaning, and must be understood, not literally and 
srammatically, according to rhetorical rules, but 
according to impressions or to preconceived spiritual 
notions of the truth of things, then must there, of 
necessity, be a vagueness and fluctuating import in 
the language of the Bible, just in proportion to the 
number, wildness, and extravagance of the imagina- 
tions of different individuals and commentators. 

The truth and force of these remarks are felt by 
many in relation to the prophecies. Some, adopting 
the allegorising plan, and interpreting the language by 
their own assumed mystic or spiritual notions of the 
coming and kingdom of Christ, have confessed them- 
selves perfectly at a loss, neglected the study of the 
prophécies,—yea, treated them with contempt,—and 
made no other use of them than their fanciful adapta- 
tions of them to the experience of the Christian, or to 
the spiritual condition and prospects, the hopes and 
benevolent efforts of the church. There is no telling 
where this spiritual interpretation too will end,—one 
carrying it to this and the other to a still greater 
extent; and different commentators quarreling about 
their interpretations, while all alike have lost sight of 


5S THE SYSTEM } 


the only true ground of certainty, the literal and 
grammatical interpretation. 


~ 


ΠῚ THe LitERAL INTERPRETATION IS SANCTIONED BY THE 
EXAMPLE OF THE PATRIARCHS, THE PROPHETS, AND THE 
APOSTLES, IN THEIR STUDY AND EXPOSITION OF THE 
PROPHECIES. 


The prediction relative to the flood was understood 
by Noah, in its literal sense, while the unbelieving 
world either esteemed it false altogether, or probably 
explained away its literal import. Noah didnot suffer 
any preconceived notion of the impossibility of the 
thing predicted, to suggest to him what was the 
meaning of the prophecy. He made the word* a 
guide to his notion of the thing. In like manner 
Abraham understood, literally, the predictions con- 
cerning the enslavement of his posterity in Egyptt 
and their emancipation; and especially that most ex- 
traordinary one of the birth of Isaac,—an event alto- 
gether contrary to the established laws and course of 
nature. So also did Saraht and all the worthies of 
old. 

The words which .God employed were the ex- 
pounders of the thing. Abraham’s faith is extolled, 
expressly, in that he did not reason, did not philoso- 
phise, or allegorise about it at all. “He staggered 
not,” says Paul, “αἱ the promise of God through 
unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God. 
And being fully persuaded that what He had pro- 
mised, He was also able to perform.”§ Isaac, Jacob, 
Moses, all believed that the predictions would be ful- 


*Heb. 11. 7. + Gen. 1ὅ. 13-16. 
t Heb. 11. 11-13. § Rom. 4. 20, 21. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 538 


filled, according to their grammatical import ; and those, 
too, with respect ‘to the coming of the Messiah. 
- They all expected it to be literal, an event historically 
to be true. No instance whatever occurs, in which 
they ever thought of interpreting prophecy, by making 
their notions of the thing explain the words, and by 
extracting a spiritual or allegorical import from the 
literal expressions, other than as the things them- 
selves,—when the plain and obvious meaning of the 
words was understood—were of a spiritual nature. 

Paul does, indeed, in one or two places, comment 
upon Abraham’s faith in such terms as to have led 
many to think, and to affirm, that he sanctions the 
allegorical interpretation; but on a close examination 
we shall find he does not. In the fourth chapter of 
Romans, this illustrious apostle explains the nature of 
the Abrahamic covenant, which brought, among other 
things, distinctly to Abraham’s faith, the prospect of 
his being “the heir of the world.” This, he says, was 
represented to him by God, in such a way that he 
expected to be “the father of all”; to stand at the 
head of the great family, of all the great company of 
nations who should exercise ‘the like faith which he 
did in God-—whether they were among his natural 
descendants, the Jewish race, or the Gentile nations ; 
all which things were to occur literally as matter of 
fact. 

Abraham did not understand the prediction that he 
should be ‘‘heir of the world,” to mean, that either 
himself or his progeny should possess the land of 
Canaan during their mortal life. This Paul expressly 
asserts, when he says that, “he looked for a city 
which hath foundations whose builder and maker is 
God ;” and that he and all his offspring who died in 
faith, while they actually dwelt in the land of Canaan, 


54 THE system! 

did so, not as having received possession of the thing 
God had promised, but as “ strangers and pilgrims on 
the earth.” ‘By faith he sojourned in the land of 
promise, in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles 
with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same 
promise.”* “These all died in faith, not having 
received the promises, (the promises not having been 
fulfilled,) but having seen them (the things promised) 
afar off, and embraced them, and confessed that they 
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” 

Neither does the grammatical interpretation of the 
language of the covenant made with Abraham, imply 
or teach that any temporary occupation of Palestine 
or the land of promise, by the Jews, prior to the glo- 
rious advent of the Messiah, was the thing promised. 
It is true that the occupancy of Palestine, by Abra- 
ham’s posterity during their mortal life, was a thing 
promised and confirmed to Abraham, but it was, by 
another covenant, entirely distinct from that pre-emi- 
nently called the Abrahamic covenant, in which God 
promised that he should be “heir of the world.” 
The transactions related in the 17th and 22d chapters 
of Genesis,f although involving or implymg some 
occupancy of the land of Palestine by Abraham and 
his seed, are connected with spiritual blessings to be 
enjoyed in the highest degree, and by all nations on 
the face of the earth. In the 12th, 13th, and 15th 
chapters of Genesis,{ reference is made to the specific 
grant of the land for the oceupancy of Abraham’s 
posterity, at a future period not very remote, in the 
fourth generation, or four hundred years thereafter. 

The promise of a numerous posterity, with a grant 


- 


* Heb. 11. 9-16. fGen. 17. 1-15; 22.-15—18. 
t Genesis, 12.7; 13. 14-17; 15, 13-16. 


OF INTERPRETATION, δῆ 


of the land of Canaan for their occupancy, made to 
Abraham, together with the covenant confirming the 
same, occurred fourteen years* before the Abrahamic 
Covenant—strictly and properly so called—was insti. 
tuted, in which God stipulates that Abraham shall be 
‘“‘heir of the world.” This phrase does not occur in 
the original record of the covenant, but is evidently 
the apostle’s short and pithy comment on or condensa- 
tion of the import of the promises contained ix it, 
that he should be “the father of many nations” that 
“kings should come out of him,’+ and, as it is else- 
where expressed, “ἃ company of nations,”{ should 
be of him. The apostle means something very diffe- 
rent from the temporal and temporary possession of 
the land of Palestine by Abraham’s posterity, which 
is the favorite opmion of some learned critics and 
commentators, as Schleusner§ and Rosenmiiller.|} 
The phrase “heir of the world,” according to its 
grammatical import, means, lord, possessor, inheritor 


*See the Christian’s Magazine, vol. 1. p. 141, and Dr. Mason’s 
works. In his first essay on the church of God, the Doctor asserts 
and successfully maintains the distinction above referred to. 

t Genesis, 17. 4—6. 

t Genesis, 35. 11. 

§ See Schleusner, Lex., Art. κληρονομὸς. 

| See Rosenmiiller, ad Rom. 4. 13., tom. iii. p. 698. τὸ «dnpo- 
vopoy αὑτὸν εἶναι τοῦ κοσμου, fore, ut terram possideat. Τὸ est pleon- 
asmus Atticus, κοσμος formula Judaica hic nihil alind esse videtur, 
quam γῆ, yx, Gen. 12. 7, et in specie, terra Canaan, nam Pales- 
tina apud Hebréeos κατ᾽ ἐξο γὴν PrN dicta est. Facile tamen phrasis 
porn nine loc. cit., et aliis Geneseos locis de orbe terrarum universi 
intelligi potuit a Judeis, preesertim quum prophet sepius populo 
Israelitico imperium in omnem terrarum orbem promiserint, e. 6. 
Is. 54. 8. 

T KAnoovonds non est heeres sed possessor, 5. dominus, et proprius 
quidem, qui portionem terree Cananorum sorte accepit; a, νέμω 
distribuo, et κλῆρος calculus, quo Hebraici, ut videtur, usi sunt in 


a opHE ‘system! 


of the world, one who, by virtue of a bequest or grant, 
may rightly claim and occupy it as his own. Now, 
no occupancy which either Abraham or the Jews have 
as yet had of the land of Canaan, comes any way 
near to the grammatical import of that expression. 
Nor does the spiritual extension and enlargement of 
the Christian church, as some suppose ; for it is just 
as obvious, according to the grammatical import of 
the prophecy of the Abrahamic covenant, that the 
occupancy of the land of Canaan, or the promised 
land, by Abraham and his seed, was to be in some 
way connected with his being “a blessing to all the 
nations and families of the earth,” a thing not true to 
this hour. ὶ ᾷ 

_ The covenant, too, which guarantees the possession 
of the land of Canaan, with the fulfilment of the pro- 
mise that he should be heir of the world, looks for- 
ward to something, then only to be accomplished when 
both Abraham and all his seed should together enter upon 
wt as “an everlasting possession.” Neither the tempo- 
rary possession, therefore, of the land of Palestine, 
by the natural descendants of Abraham, nor the exten- 


sortibus dandis, v. Jos. 11.23; 14.2. The above is the grammat- 
ical interpretation or criticism of Rosenmiiller. The following is 
his exposition, as vague and indefinite, and unlike the text, and as 
wide from the promise, as it well can be, yet a fair specimen of 
the allegorical interpretation, ‘“ Videtur autem ἢ. 1. possessione 
mundi intelligi omnis generis felicitas Abrahami posteris promissa,”’ 
Abraham should possess the world, be its lord or inheritor,—* the 
heir of the world,’ says Paul. Abraham himself is the person 
spoken of; but Rosenmiiller, and the whole class of interpreters 
who adopt his principles, tell us it means all sort of happiness pro- 
mised to Abraham’s posterity! ! What part, interest, or concern 
had Abraham personally, in the Jews’ temporary possession of 
Canaan? He did not care for it himself, and would he be more 
captivated by his children’s temporary occupancy of it ? 


OF INTERPRETATION. 57 


sion of the church of God among the Gentile nations, 
during the whole period of the rejection of the Jews, 
was, or could be, the thing intended by the prophecy, 
according to its literal or grammatical import. That 
teaches, that the blessed inheritance connected with, 
and intended by the land of Canaan for “an ever- 
lasting possession,” is one, the enjoyment of which 
will belong, in some way or other, to Abraham, 
together with all who. walk in the footsteps of his 
faith. “For,” the apostle says, “the promise must 
be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the 
law, (viz. believers under the Mosaic dispensation, as 
he has explained himself to mean,) but to that also 
which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father 
of us all, (as it is written, I have made thee a father 
of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even 
God who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things 
that be not as though they were.”’* 

Here the apostle, who is explaining Abraham’s faith 
of this promise, or, in other words, setting forth the 
things that Abraham expected, tells us expressly, that 
Abraham was regarded, and regarded himself, as the 
father or representative of a numerous seed BEFORE 
Gop, and that, too, as he who raiseth the dead, and 
ealleth things that be not as THOUGH THEY WERE. It 
was, in the sight of God, as raising the dead, and 
speaking of things far distant in futurity, as though 
they were present, that Abraham’s faith looked for- 
ward to the events to be realized by the fulfilment of 
the promise. Some occupancy of the land of Canaan, 
therefore, which Abraham and all the saints should 
have together in the resurrection state, and when 
Abraham should be conspicuously and gloriously the 


* Romans, 4. 13. 
6 


58 ‘THE sysTEM ! 


heir or possessor of the world, was hterally.the thing 
promised of God, and expected by Abraham,—the 
heavenly city εἰμές hath foundations, whose builder 
and maker is God, for which he looked, and of which 
Paul speaks,—the New Jerusalem, the bisly, city, which 
John in vision saw coming down from God out of 
heaven, as a bride adorned for her husband. 

To make the promise refer to the spread and preva- 
lence of the gospel, under the evangelical dispensa- 
tion, and to say that Abraham becomes “heir of the 
world,” by the diffusion and triumph of the gospel, 
is to allegorise and to accommodate the language of 
the Spirit, to contradict the grammatical import, and 
not grammatically to interpret. For, to dwell a moment 
longer here— 

Paul says explicitly, Abtahera and all the fothers 
looked for a heavenly city, as one great and glorious 
thing held forth in “ the covenant of promise.” That 
heavenly city, allegorically interpreted, must mean 
either the invisible state, i. e.the state of happiness 
into which the saints now enter, when they die, and 
pass into-the heavenly paradise, or. it must mean the 
church of God, enlarged, extended, and universally 
established—what the Spiritualists call the kingdom 
of God, etc., especially towards the close of the gos- 
pel Sinrpucasionss .e. during the millenial glory. That. 
it means the paradisiacal heaven, or the heavenly 
state, on which all the Fathers entered after death, 
Paul expressly denies, for he says, ‘These all died 
in faith, not having received the promises, but having 
seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and 
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims upon 
the earth; for they that say such things declare 
plainly that they seek a country. And truly, if they 
had been mindful of that country from whence they 


OF INTERPRETATION. 59 


came out, they might have had opportunity to have 
returned. But now they desire a better country, that 
is an heavenly ; wherefore God is not ashamed to be 
called their God, for He hath prepared for them a 
city.’* At their death they did not enter into that 
heavenly city for which they hoped, neither did the 
prophets, who succeeded the patriarchal fathers, such 
as Moses, David, Samuel, Isaiah, and many others ; 
for Paul says of them .also, that “having in this life 
obtained a good report through faith, they received 
not the promise, God having provided some better 
thing for us, that they without us should not be made 
perfect,” Ἐ i. es be consummated in bliss. 

The literal or grammatical meaning of this is, that 
the patriarchs and prophets were not to enter into the 
promised glory without, and consequently before, we 
Christians. But, lest it be said, that a change took 
place, after the death and ascension of Christ, i the 
heavenly state, and that Abraham and the prophets 
passed into the glory into which Christians now enter 
when they die—whatever may or may not be the 
truth of this, it is not, and cannot be, what the apostle 
understands by the thing promised. That, he uni- 
formly speaks of as being the glory accruing to the 
saints, when Christ shall return to earth, raise their 
dead bodies, and establish His kingdom for ever and 
ever. - 

Of that inheritance, Peter says explicitly, they have 
not yet obtained possession, whether patriarchs, pro- 
phets, apostles, or any now with Christ, for it is 
“reserved in heaven,” and “ready to be revealed in 
the last time.”{ The grace for which patriarchs, pro- 
phets, apostles, and Christians in all ages hope, is the 


* Heb. 11. 13-16. f Heb. 11. 39-40. {1 Peter, 1. 4, 5. 


60 THE SYSTEM .OF INTERPRETATION. 


grace that is to be brought unto us at the revelation 
of Jesus Christ, i.e. at his second coming. But if the 
heavenly city, the inheritance for which Abraham and 
all the fathers hoped, and for which Christians are yet 
hoping, be not the state immediately after death, and 
the allegorical interpretation fails here, much more 
must it, when it is alleged that it is the gospel state 
of the church on earth, especially in a millenium to 
be enjoyed before the return of Christ. In that Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the dead saints have no 
part for which they now wait, the heavenly city is not 
to be entered until the resurrection, and the return of 
Christ to this world. It is explicitly said that Abra+ 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob are to enter at that day. into 
the kingdom, and “ many from the East and from the 
West, from the North and from the South, are to 
come, not before, but at the day of Christ’s appearing, 
and to sit down with them in the kingdom of heaven.” 
The allegorical interpretation makes utter confusion 
of all this, but the grammatical interpretation sets it 
before us as clear and intelligible as it is transcendent 


in glory. 


{5 τ δῆς 


UNIVERSITY] 


= 


<A, IPOE τὴν» 


CHAPTER III. 
THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


Two very opposite systems of Scriptural interpreta- 
tion have been brought into view ; the one denominated 
THE LITERAL: ΟΥ̓ GRAMMATICAL, and the other the ALuE- 
GORICAL ΟΥ̓ SPIRITUAL. The general nature of each 
has been defined, and to some extent illustrated ; the 
literal or grammatical having been shown to be the 
method commonly adopted by men in their attempts to 
understand each other’s language, according to which, 
the words, grammatically understood, are taken as the 
proper guide to the meaning of the writer or the 
nature of the thing expressed ;—the allegorical or 
spiritual being an attempt to explain the meaning of 
the words according to some assumed or epi icere 
notions of the nature of the thing. 

We have affirmed the literal system to be the true 
and proper one for the interpretation of the prophetical 
Scriptures ; because it is the most natural, consistent, 
and satisfactory mode of interpretation, commending 
itself to the common sense of mankind; because it is 
more definite and certain, and far less liable to the 
charge of vagueness and to the vagaries of men’s 
imaginations, than the spiritual or allegorical ; and 
because it is sanctioned by the example of the 
patriarchs, the prophets, and the apostles, in their 
study and exposition of the prophecies. We add 
another reason. 

6* 


62 THE system ! 


IV. THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF PROPHECY CONTAINED IN THE 
SCRIPTURES, AS FAR AS IT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED AND 
EXPOUNDED BY THE ProvIDENCE oF Gop, RECOGNIZES 
AND ESTABLISHES THE LITERAL OR GRAMMATICAL AS. ITS 
APPROPRIATE METHOD OF INTERPRETATION. 


In order to understand the force of this argument, 
it will be necessary to notice more particularly than we 
have done, the nature and character of prophecy. On 
this point there has been much confusion, which has 
not been much relieved by treatises designed expressly 
to give us philosophical explanations of the manner in 
which the minds of the prophets were affected. It has 
been taken for granted, that there is something 
essentially difficult to be understood in prophecy ; not 
only from the necessary obscurity in every attempt to 
describe future events, but especially from the mode in 
which the minds of the prophets were acted on and 
_affected by the Spirit of God, who made to the prophets 
his revelations. Peter says, that prophecy is not the 
result of human excogitation. “It came not in old 
time by the will of man, but holy men of God spake 
as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”* 

As to the precise amount of meaning in this word 
‘t woveD,” there has been much disagreement among 
those who have written on the nature of prophecy. 
This diversity of sentiment has ranged from those 
satisfied with a general knowledge of the fact that God 
acted on them in some miraculous way, and who 
attempted not even to form an idea as to the mode, be- 
lieving that Peter intended to intimate no notion what- 
ever on this subject—to those, who, supposing that he 
did, have allowedthemselves to class the phrenzy of the 


* 2 Pet. 1. 21. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 63 


false prophets among the heathen, with the eestasy of 
the true, as being of the same essential nature.. Accord- 
ingly, it has been assumed, that ‘the true explanation 
depends on a correct theory of prophecy.”* I quote 
the language of Dr. Hengstenburg,} of the University 
of Berlin. He admits it.to have been the prevailing 
opinion of the church, since the controversies with the 
Montanists, “ that the essential difference between the 
prophets of God and the heathen diviners, consists in 
the fact, that the latter spake in an eestasy, but the 
former in full possession of reason and consciousness ; 
and consequently with a clear knowledge of what they 
uttered.” He does. not seem satisfied with the 
orthodox belief on this subject, preferring the notions 
of Platonic philosophy as better adapted to his peculiar 
metaphysics. For, applying to the true prophets, 


* Christology of the O. T., vol. i. p. 217. 

t This style of speech ees by Professor Hengstenburg has 
become common in these United States. Editors of religious papers, 
professors, ministers and others, talk about theory on the subject of 
the prophecies, as though the study of prophecy was necessarily 
connected with theorising and speculations—favorite expressions 
used when it suits their convenience to condemn others and excuse 
their own ignorance. The predictions of Scripture seem to be 
regarded much in the same light that many do the phenomena of 
nature, as affording materials on which the student is to display his 
ingenuity by inventing some theory to explain them.. Theory is 
out of place and unallowable in the study of prophecy ; and as long 
as men assume it, and act on the principle that they are to excogi- 
tate some mode of explanation, some clue to the meaning, and by 
its guidance interpret particular parts, or weave the whole system 
of prophecy together, we shall have nothing but schemes originating 
in the imagination, and as endless varieties as we meet among 
cosmogonists. It is a simple question that in all cases must be 
asked, what is the fair and legitimate meaning of the words—a 
matter-of-fact investigation—no theorising, no speculations. 


64 THE system ! 


what Plato has enlarged upon in his Jon and Phedrus, 
viz. “ that prophesying is necessarily accompanied by 
the suppression of human agency, intelligence, and 
consciousness,” he is prepared to look for more or 
less obscurity growing out of the very mode in which 
the divine communication was made, although he has, 
- notwithstanding, made’ many valuable remarks, and 
decidedly, but not designedly, favorable to the ane 
or grammatical interpretation. 

It does not comport with our design, nor indeed i is 
it necessary, to enter into any discussion as to the 
physiology of inspiration, a subject, of which it is 
utterly impossible for us to have any accurate know- 
ledge, or any means of investigation. Those, who 
deny that prophecy is the revelation of future events 
made miraculously by the Spirit of God, and who 
assume it to be a mere natural gift or power, of the 
same character with the divinations among the hea- 
then, may, very naturally, attempt the explanation of 
the one by the other, and class what Dr. Hengsten- 
burg has called the ecstasy of the prophets of Israel, 
with the arrLatus and phrenzy of the prophets among 
the heathen. But it does not appear, from anything 
recorded in the Scriptures, that the prophets of God 
were thrown into an ecstasy by the inspiration of the 
Holy Ghost, and deprived of intelligence, conscious- 
ness and voluntary agency, when they uttered his ora- 
cles.* There is nothing in the character of the dreams 
and visions, etc., of the prophets to prove it. What- 
ever effects may have sometimes been produced upon 
their animal system and sensations, by the disclosures 
thus made to them,—and these, as in the case of 
Daniel and John and others, were very remarkable— 


* See Gaussen’s Theopneusty, pp. 313, 314, 


OF INTERPRETATION. 65 


the scriptural account of their visions and dreams and 
other divine communications made to. them, does not 
intimate that they were unintelligible, or hard to be 
understood, in consequence of any supernatural mode 
by which they were moved by the Holy Ghost. 

The obscurity of prophecy arises entirely from 
other sources, such as the partial character of the 
revelation ; the impossibility of forming any vivid ideas 
of things yet future and but partially described ; igno- 
rance of the precise time and relations of distant events; 
the want of well-defined views as to the nature of the 
language and style in which the several prophets may 
have delivered their several predictions; the inei- 
dental difference, in the accounts of different prophets 
predicting the same things,—growing out of the cir - 
cumstance, that some scenes connected with the 
events predicted, are noticed and more particularly 
described, by one prophet, while another has not even 
alluded to them; the difficulty there ever must be in 
harmonising an almost endless variety of future scenes 
and circumstances not chronologically arranged by 
the prophets, but described in some order of succes 
sion, and at intervals not always diselosed ; and the 
pictorial character of the representations made to 
the prophets often in dreams, and more especially in 
visions, which doubtless often rendered them as much 
the matter of anxious study to the prophets them- 
selves as to others in order to understand their im-. 
port.* 

Professor Stewart} has fully and unanswerably vin- 
dicated the writings of the ancient prophets from any 
charge of obscurity founded on the peculiar psycho- 
logical system of Dr. Hengstenburg, and his philoso- 


* 1 Pet. 1. 10, 11. 
ἡ Biblical Repository, vol. ii. p. 245. 


66 . THE SYSTEM | 


phical theory of the mode of inspiration, and the nature 
of prophecy, and concludes: “I must. believe that, 
when (God) reveals anything to men, he does not 
wrap it up in darkness. I must continue to cherish 
the belief, that when he undertakes to instruct them, 
he does not leave them ignorant. All which he in- 
tends to accomplish, he does accomplish. His accre- 
dited messengers are not “blind leaders of the blind,” 
but “clothed with light and salvation.” They are 
not men bereaved of their understanding, their reason, 
their consciousness, their free agency ; but the most 
enlightened, the most free, of all men on the face of 
the earth.* | : 
" Entertaining precisely such views of the nature of 
inspiration, whether of the prophetical or other parts 
of Scripture, we expect to find, in the word of God 
itself, a sanction of the principles of interpretation 
applicable to the speech and writings of men in gene- 
ral, in their application to the system of prophecy 
contained in it.. In this we are not disappointed. For, 
1. The prophets’ communications were so interpreted 
and understood generally by their cotemporaries who 
heard them. I need not cite the examples of Micaiah,t 
Elijaht and Elisha,§ of Isaiah,|| Jeremiah, Ezekiel,** 


* Similar sentiments are to be found in Mr. Barnes’ Introduction 
to his Notes on the book of Isaiah, when unfolding the views of 
Professor Hengstenburg and his own, on the nature of prophecy. 
“ There was an essential difference between the effect of true in- 
spiration on the mind, and the wild and frantic ravings of the pagan 
priests and the ‘oracles of divination. Everything in the Scrip- 
tures is consistent, rational, sober, and in accordance with the 
laws of the animal economy: everything in the heathen idea of 
inspiration was wild, frantic, fevered and absurd.”—Vol. i. p 19. 

11 Kings, 22. 15-36. 61 Kings, 19. 20. 21; 2 Kings,1. 

ὃ 2 Kings, 3. 10-27; 7. &e. || Is. 37. 38. 39, &c. 

« Jerem. 32. &c. ** Ezek. 4. 5. 6. ὅς. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 67 


Hosea,* and others, many if not most of whose predic- 
tions were understood, and that so well, that, being con- - 
trary to their taste and prejudices, and coctetgysntly to 
their cordial reception, the people and rulers became so 
indignant with them, that scarcely any of them escaped 
without severe persecution,} and even unto death. 
“Τὸ avoid delay in the details of the argument, I pre- 
fer to avail myself of the reasonings and conclusion 
arrived at on this subject by Professor Stuart, whom I 
am the more disposed to quote, because he cannot be 
suspected of prejudice on this subject, having classed 
himself with those who, in reference to most of the 
unfulfilled predictions, interpret them allegorically or 
spiritually, and not literally. “ Admitting,” says he, 
“that the prophets spake intelligibly, and that they 
were actually understood by their cotemporaries, and 
this without any miraculous interposition, it follows of 
course that it was the usual laws of interpretation 
which enabled their hearers to understand them. 
They spontaneously applied to their words the same 
principles of interpretation which they were wont to 
do to the language of all who addressed them. By 
so doing, they rightly understood the prophets ; at 
any rate, by so-doing, they might have rightly under- 
stood them: and if so, then such laws of interpreta- 
tion are the right ones; for those laws must be right 
which conduct us to the true meaning of a speaker, 
Ι can perceive no way of avoiding this conclusion, 
unless we deny that the prophets were understood, or 
could be understood, by their cotemporaries. But to 
deny this, would be denying facts so plain, so incon- 
trovertible, that it would argue a desperate attach- 
ment to system, or something still more culpable.”’t 


* Hos. 9. δος. ft Acts, 7. 52. 
t Biblical Repository, vol. ii. p. 132. 


68 THE system ! 


These very just and excellent remarks, however, 
are by many admitted only with restrictions. So far 
as the predictions of the ancient prophets related to 
temporal events, it is admitted that these remarks are 
true; but not to be. construed as applicable to the 
spiritual interests and events of Christ’s kingdom. 
Here, it is contended, the cotemporaries of the pro- 
phets mistook their meaning, as have done and still 
do all others who understand them literally, instead 
of taking out of them a spiritual or allegorical mean- 
ing.* This, however, is a point much more easily 
assumed than proved. It will be shown, in another 
and more convenient place, that the idea of the per- 
sonal coming of the Messiah—for the purpose of judg- 
ment and of establishing His kingdom—the kingdom 
of Heaven on earth—upon the ruins of the great per- 
secuting nations which for centuries have enslaved 
and oppressed the people of God—for the restoration 
of the tribes of Israel and of Judah to their own land, 
and for the perfection and glorious dominion of. the 
Theocracy—was very common among the Jews, and 
can be traced far back in the traditionary interpreta- 
tion of the prophets, even from the days of their 
cotemporaries till the first appearing of Jesus Christ, 
and subsequently in the Christian church, without 


* For a striking example of this, see Lowth’s Notes on Isaiah, 
chap. 63, p. 392, and also 8. Noble’s Lectures on the Plenary In- 
spiration of the Scriptures, p. 180-215, ὅσ. After a metaphysical 
dissertation on the intellectual powers, the latter says: “ And if 
we consider these three orders of intellectual powers to have three 
distinct provinces of the mind appropriated to them as their seats, 
we shall see why they are represented by the three countries of 
Egypt, Assyria, and Israel—such representation following accu- 
rately the law of that analogy, which, we have before seen, we all 
intuitively recognize, between the relations of mind and the rela- 
tions of space.” 


OF INTERPRETATION. 69 


denial or dispute, for three centuries after the Chris- 
tian era: ~ ; 

There were, indeed, errors in relation to the time 
of Messiah’s appearing, and a confounding of his first 
and second coming, with more or-less of imaginary 
details in the description of his kingdom, not taken 
from the prophetical writings, but from the glosses of 
commentators ; but even these errors, and whatever 
of extravagant imagination may be found in the de- 
tailed accounts of the nature of the Messiah’s king- 
dom which have come down to us from antiquity, 
only prove our position, that the prophecies were in- 
terpreted and understood literally, as well those which 
relate to Messiah’s kingdom, as to the nations of 
earth. They were admitted and known to be the fore- 
telling of certain things or events to happen, as really 
and literally true in their accomplishment with regard 
to the Messiah’s appearing and reigning in his king- 
dom on this earth, as with regard to the kingdoms of this 
world, on whose ruins it should be established. 

Here again it will be objected, that the expectation 
of the Jews, founded on the literal interpretation of 
the prophecies, viz., that the Messiah would come and 
establish a glorious kingdom on the earth, making 
Jerusalem its centre and bringing all the nations of the 
earth in subjection to it, has been proved fallacious 
by the providence of God. It is freely admitted by 
those who urge this objection, or rather taken for 
granted, that the cotemporaries of the prophets, and 
others of the Jewish nation, were greatly in error on 
this subject ; so much so, as to have their minds filled 
with prejudice and their hearts hardened through un- 
belief... Their error, we affirm, did not consist in the 
system of literal interpretation adopted by them, but 
in their very partial examination and knowledge of 

7 


70 THE system ὦ 


what the prophets did utter. They did not perceive, 
that there were two distinct comings of their Messiah 
predicted ; that each of these comings had its own dis- 
tinct attributes;.and that the first was so definitely 
marked out as to time, that attention to the .chro- 
nology of certain events in their history, would have 
enabled them to come vey near, if not exactly, to the 
period of it. 

Neither did they seem to be aware, that the cir- 
cumstances, occasion, manner, condition, and other 
particulars of their Messiah’s first appearing, were all 
apparently inconsistent with, and contradictory of the 
pomp and glory, the splendor, and triumph, and lofty 
dominion, that should attend his second appearing. 
It was distinctly predicted, for example, where he 
should be born, and what should be his condition 
through life; that he should be a man of sorrows, de- 
spised and rejected of the people, be put to death, 
rise from the grave, and ascend to Heaven. ΑἹ] this, 
doubtless, they could not reconcile with the other 
predictions relating to his coming, in triumph and 
glory, to establish his kingdom on the earth. But 
the careful and diligent study of prophecy would 
have enabled them generally, as it did some, to recog- 
nize and acknowledge him when he did come ; and, 
having done so, to get, from his own lips, the sina 
tion necessary to understand that portion of the pre- 
dictions remaining to be fulfilled. . This they did not, 

Attracted by the predictions relating to his king- 
dom—which comprehend by far the greatest part of 
the prophetical descriptions and communications— 
they lost sight, altogether, of those relating to his first 
personal coming.* Having thus confounded the two 
comings of the Messiah, they were totally unprepared 
to recognize him, when he came, in his humiliation, 

* Is. 53. 


OF INTERPRETATION. Th 


to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. If, there- 
fore, through ienorance and imattention, the Jews 
made mistakes, and looked for the glorious dominion 
of the Messiah to be set up at his first appearing, that 
does not at all prove the system of interpretation 
prevalent among them to be wrong. It only proves, 
that they were not accurate and diligent students of 
the prophecies—that they did not apply correctly 
their. own principles. And the sad result, *which 
flowed to them, through their neglect of the careful 
and prayerful study of the prophecies, and of the ap- 
plication of the literal principles of interpretation 
which they had adopted—even the unbelief and rejec- 
tion of their whole nation—should administer a re- 
buke, and excite alarm on the part of those, who, at 
this day, neglect the study of the prophecies, and are 
just as incredulous and unprepared to meet him at his 
second coming in glory, to establish his kingdom on 
the earth, as they were at his first. 

Neglect of the prophecies led to the ruin of their 
church and nation ; and the same neglect so extensive 
at the present day, we doubt not, will lead to’ the ruin 
of many more churches and nations, now just as con- 
fident, in their belief, that the providence of God has 
falsified the Jews’ expectation as to the Messiah’s 
kingdom, and proved the error of the literal princi- 
ples of interpretation adopted by them. ‘There is 
great reason to fear that the coming of Jesus Christ 
in glory and triumph, to establish his kingdom on the 
earth, has proved; and will continue to prove, as great 
a stumbling-block to the mass of Christian ministers 
and professors, as. his coming, in humiliation and sor- 
row, for suffering and death, did to the learned doc- 
tors of the Sanhedrim, and to the majority of the Jew- 
ish nation. 


72 rue system | 

The weakness of this objection, as well as the fal- 
_lacy of this conclusion, may be rendered yet more ap- 
parent, if we advert to, the singular coincidence, in 
sentiment and practice, between the Jews since the 
death of Christ, and the great mass of the Christian 
ministry and churches at the present day, in relation 
to the spiritual or allegorical interpretation. The 
Jew contends just as strenuously for the spiritual in- 
_ terpretation of the predictions, which the spiritualist. 
says have been literally fulfilled, as does the spiritual-. 
ist for the spiritual*interpretation.of those remaining: 
to be accomplished, and which the Jew says must be 
literally fulfilled. Together, they present the most 
singular phenomenon. Although agreeing, as to the 
system of interpretation in part to be applied, it is 
utterly impossible for them to agree as to the results 
derived from their application of them. The Christian, 
who adopts the spiritual interpretation of the prophe- 
cies, in relation to the second coming of Jesus Christ 
in his kingdom, approaches the Jew, and telling him, 
that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, exhorts him το. 
cease from his unbelief, and to embrace the Saviour 
of the world. 

The Jew, in his infidelity, denies the fact, and ask- 
ing him. how he knows that, calls upon him to prove 
it. The Christian reads to him the psalm which says, 
“They part my garments among them, and cast lots 
upon my vesture,”* and tells him, this and other par- 
ticulars stated in this prophetic psalm, were literally 
accomplished in the sufferings, and circumstances of 
the death, of Jesus Christ. The Jew replies, ‘‘ Admit 
it as your historian Matthew and others have related : 
but cast your eye forward and there read, ‘ All the . 


* Psalm 22, 18. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 73 


ends of the world shall remember, and turn unto the 
Lord; and.all.the kindreds of the nations shall worship 
before thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He 
is governor among the nations.* What do you make 
of this t When did ever such a thing as this occur 2 
The kingdom is not Christ’s. He is not governor 
among the nations. Where is there a nation, on the 
face of the earth, that, since his crucifixion, has ever, 
in its national character, owned and honored, and 
in all things submitted to, Jesus Christ as its gov- 
ernor 1 

The Christian replies, “You mistake: these pre- 
dictions about his kingdom, and being governor 
among the nations, are to be understood spiritually. 
They refer to his spiritual kingdom, the church, or to 
his invisible kingdom, and to the influence of his 
grace, in subduing impenitent rebels, and in bringing 
them to the obedience of the faith, and more espe- 
cially to that period yet future, the millenial glory, 
when, by increased missionary zeal and labors, by 
the universal preaching of the gospe!, by the effusions 
of the Holy Spirit, and by great and extensive revivals 
of religion, the great mass of mankind will be con- 
wverted,,and ὁ the kings, and princes; and rulers of the 

-earth, the executive, legislative and judicial function- 
aries of the nations, be nnisaraelly brought under the 
influence of. Christianity.” 

To this the Jew rejoins, “1 object to your princi- 
ples of interpretation. You make one part literal, 
and another spiritual, just as it suits you. Now I 
claim, that the whole psalm be interpreted either lite- 
rally or spiritually. I have just as good a right to 
say, as 1 do, of that part which you tell me was lite- 
rally fulfilled, in the sufferings and death of Jesus 

* Psalm 22. 27, 28. 
ἢ» 


74 THE SYSTEM |! 


Christ, that it must be understood spiritually, as you — 
have of the other.” Thus they are at perfect issue, 
and yet agreed as to the principles of interpretation. 
This first effort therefore fails. 

But the Christian brings another and most re- 
markable passage to his aid from the psalm where 
it is said, ‘Thou hast ascended on, high, and hast 
led captivity captive,” &c.* This, he says, was 
literally and truly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and 
reads the story of the ascension of Christ from the 
evangelists in proof. ‘‘ Admit it,” replies the Jew, 
‘but pray read the verses of this same psalm, in 
which it is said, ‘They have seen thy goings, O 
God, even the goings of my God, my King, in the 
sanctuary. The singers went before, the players on 
instruments followed after: among them were the 
damsels playing with timbrels. Bless ye God in the 
congregations, even the Lord, from the fountain οἵ" 
Israel. There is little Benjamin with their ruler, the 
princes of Judah and their counsel, the princes of 
Zebulon and the princes of Naphtali. Thy God hath 
commanded thy strength: strengthen, O God, that 
which thou hast wrought for us. Because of thy 
temple at Jerusalem shall kings bring presents unte 
thee.’t “All this,” the Jew says, “the prophet has 
predicted, shall come after the ascension of God. 
We yet look for our Messiah, who will bring us to our 
Jand, and show himself in his temple to be built at 
Jerusalem. What make you of all this?’ 

To this the Christian replies, “ You mistake: this 
must all be understood spiritually of the presence of 
Christ in his church, which is his temple—not lite- 
rally but allegorically, or retrospectively, at least to 
the days of Solomon.” 


* Psalm 68. 18. + Psalm 68. 24-29. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 715 


“Then,” rejoins the Jew, “ was the ascension of 
God all spiritual ; and 1 will not consent that you take 
advantage of this one verse in the psalm to apply it 
literally to Jesus of Nazareth, and understand all the 
rest, which you cannot literally apply to him, as true - 
allegorically or spiritually. I claim,” says the Jew, 
“that it must be all interpreted on the same general 
principles, either all spiritual or all literal. If you 
say the predictions relating to the humiliation, and 
sufferings, and death of the Messiah are literal, then» 
must those also be literal which relate to his glory 
and the triumphant establishment of his kingdom on 
the earth. If the predictions relating to his second 
coming in his kingdom and glory must be spiritually 
understood, then must those also be spiritual, which 
relate to his first coming, in his humiliation, and suf- . 
ferings, and death. You may take your choice.” 

The same issue may be made by the Jew, with 
equally unanswerable point, let the spiritualist quote 
from any portions of the Scriptures whatever, which 
speak of “the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that . 
should follow.” 

Who does not see how greatly the Jew has the . 
advantage of the Christian, who interprets prophecy 
in this chameleon-like method’? It is unjust and un- 
generous, uncandid, undignified, and inconsistent with 
all sound logic, honorable argument, fair dealing, and 
common sense, to treat the Jew or any one else thus. 
No wonder, therefore, that for centuries so little im- - 
pression has been made uponhim. Certainly the alle- 
gorizing interpretation of the Scriptures is not caleu- 
lated to convince or to convert him. He may most. 
equitably demand that one or other system be adopt- 
ed, and adhered to consistently. The spiritual inter- 
pretation cannot universally apply to the system οἵ. 


76. THE SYSTEM 1 , 


propheey, for he that attempts it will be involved in 
endless embarrassments and difficulties, and must’ of 
necessity, by the licence it gives his imagination, ren- 
der the Bible a vague, uncertain, and unsatisfactory 
book, and prophecy a thing utterly contemptible, and 


fit to be.classed with the ambiguities and equivoques, 


and unmeaning rhapsodies of the oracles of the hea- 
then. The literal interpretation, however, is wholly 
devoid of such embarrassment ; and while it is the 
only system’ which can present the argument fairly, 
fully, and consistently, to convince the Jew that Jesus 
of Nazareth was the Messiah predicted, cuts him off 
from all objections urged from the predictions of his 
coming in glory in his kingdom, and renders the Bible 
a plain, intelligible, and consistent book. This leads 
to a second remark in the exhibition of the argument. 

2. That the adoption of ‘the literal system of inter- 
pretation by the cotemporaries of the prophets—ac- 
cording to which the ancient Jews expected the literal 
coming of the Messiah, and the literal accomplishment of 
the events predicted, has been sanctioned and confirmed by 
the providence of God, in the actual literal fulfilment of all 
the prophecies relating to it, yea, and of the entire system 
of prophecy, as far as it has been verified. 

It is impossible here to give anything more than gene- 
ral references, inasmuch asthe argument would be much 
too far extended were we to enter into minute details. 
Every one, however, acquainted with his Bible, must 
know, that the prophecies of Scripture are a vast 
chain, beginning and ending with the course of this 
Sen world :—one end of that chain lay in Paradise 

commencing in the prediction, that if man should 
at the:forbidden fruit, he should die: nor shall we 


reach the other end,—pursue it as we may, through the 
histories of ages and nations, and midst its thousand 


OF INTERPRETATION. 17 


times ten thousand convolutions,—till it brings us 
back again to Paradise restored,—the glorious domi- 
nion of Jesus Christ over all the earth, m more than 
Eden-like blessedness. “This chain of prophecy,” 
says the Rev. Ὁ. Simpson,* “is so evident in the 
Sacred Scriptures, that we are more embarrassed with 
the selection and arrangement of that vast profusion 
of them, than doubtful cf their import and accomplish- 
ment. Toa superficial observer, they may seem to 
be without order or. connection; but, to a well-in- 
formed mind, they are all disposed, in such a mode 
and succession, as to form a regular system, all whose 
parts harmonize in one amazing and consistent plan, 
which runs parallel with the history of mankind, 
past, present and to come.” But one and the same 
principle of interpretation runs throughout the system, 
whatever may be the character and style of its lan-. 
guage, and that is THE LITERALITY OR HISTORICAL VERITY 
“OF THE EVENTS AND THINGS PREDICTED. 

The predictions delivered immediately after the 
fall, with regard to the seed of the woman’s 
bruismg the serpent’s head,t though uttered in 
symbolical language; and perhaps partly at the. 
time illustrated by symbolical transactions,{ as well 


* Key to the Prophecies, p. 30. 

t Genesis, 3. 15. 

t It is not at all improbable that God, our first parents, and the 
serpent in its pristine form, while yet possessed by Satan, and actu- 
ated as his instrument, were all visibly present together. The 
curse pronounced upon the serpent, (v. 11), was calculated and 
doubtless designed, in the most cautious manner, to apprise our 
first parents of the presence of a malignant spirit, without excit- 
ing too much their fears. Dr. Hengstenburg has some excellent 
remarks on this subject in his Christology, vol. i. 34, 36. There 
was nothing in the nature of things, or in the obligations of God 
as moral governor, to prevent a sudden, violent, visible, and mira- 


78 THE system ἢ 

as those relating to the curse, upon the man, and 
soil, and the female sex,*—all contemplated historical 
verities ;—so too did the predictions of Lamech} con- 
cerning his son Noah ;—of Noah concerning the del- - 
uge,t and his sons§ Shem, Ham and. Japhet ;—of the 
angel of the covenant concerning Abraham ;||—of 
_ Abraham concerning the afflictions and emancipations 
_ of his posterity by Isaac ;1 and the condition of those 
by Ishmael ;**—of Isaac concerning Jacob and Esaut} 
and the coming of Shiloh;{t of Jacob concerning his 
twelve sons, the heads of as many tribes ;§§ of Joseph 
concerning his own promotion ; the fate of the butler 
and baker, the famine in Egypt, and the deliverance 
of his nation ;—of Moses concerning the plagues of 
Egypt,|||| the overthrow of Pharaoh, and the extir- 
pation of the Amorite and other Canaanitish nations ;*** 
the fortunes of the twelve tribes ;}{+{—their renunei- 
ation of the worship of Jehovah, and the establishment 
of idolatry ;{{{—the appearance of a prophet like him- 
self ;§§§ the sieges and disasters which should attend — 
their city ; the invasions and the ‘captivity of the tribes 


culous change of the external form and appearance of the animal, 
and of its instincts and habits. Our first parents, seeing a sudden 
degradation of the serpent take place, would be apprised of some 
intelligent agent concealed in it, against whom the blow was direct- 
ed, of whose degradation and exemplary punishment the scenic 
‘transformation of the animal before them from an upright form 
and manly gait to the reptile crawling in the dust, would be a 
pledge of the ultimate triumph over Satan by the seed of the 
woman. : 

* Gen. 3. 16-19. “1 Gen. 5. 29. t Gen, 8. 21. 
δ Gen. 9. 25. | Gen. 16. 5. : 4 Gen. 15. 13-21. 

** Gen. 21. 13-18. Ἡ Gen. 27. 27-29, and 39,40. ᾿ 

tt Gen. 49. 1-28, δὲ Gen. 37, 5-10; 40 and 41, and 50. 24. 

{| Exod. 8.9.10, % Genesis, 11. *** Deut. 31. 3-5. 

Hi Deut. 33. —>—st if Deut. 31. 16-18. §§§ Deut. 18, 15-18. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 79 


by the Assyrians and Babylonians and Romans ; the 
distresses of the Jews during their long dispersion 
and their. second captivity, in Egypt ;* the calling 
of the Gentiles; the eventual and final return of the 
Jews to their own land, and their glorious and happy 
condition under the dominion of the Messiah. t 

All these things, with the exception of the two last, 
have been literally verified, according to the plain 
grammatical import of the words of the prophecy. 
Why, therefore, we ask, when nearly all Moses’ pre- 
dictions, with those of all before him, have been liter- 
ally fulfilled, must we apply a different rule, and say, 
the balance, yet unfulfilled, must be understood spirit- 
ually? Being part of the same system, some divine 
warrant must be produced for interpreting unfulfilled 
prophecy on different principles from that fulfilled. 
To the predictions just referred to, we might add 
those of Joshua against the re-building of Jericho ;{ of 
Balaam,§. of Deborah,||—the predictions concerning 
Gideon{l and Samson ;** those of Hannah,tt and Sam- 
uel,t{t and the man of God§§ who foretold the destruc- 
tion of Eli and his house ; of Nathan;|||| of David con- 
cerning the sufferings of the Messiah, and the oppo- 
sition he should meet with from the kings and gov- 
ernors of this world, but of his eventual overthrow 
and destruction of all his enemies, and establishment 
of his kingdom on their ruins ;11—of the prophet of 


* Deut..28. 21-68. . t Deut. 32. 

t Josh. 6. 26, compared with 1 Kings, 16. 34. 

§ Num. 23 & 24, || Judges, 4. 9, 21.°. 

1 Judges, 6. 11-16, and ch. 7. & 8. ; 

** Judges, 13-16. tt 1 Sam. 2. 10, and 7. 10. 

tt 1 Sam. 10. also 18. 19, and 31. 6. 

§§ 1 Sam. 2. 27-36; 4. 10-22; 22. 9-23; and 1 Kings, 2. 26, 27. 
{Π| 2 Sam. 7. 15, 16; 12. 10-29, &e. 

a1 Psalms, 22. 2. 69. 110. 


80 _/ THE SYSTEM } 


Bethel concerning the name and conduct of Josiah; of 
Abijah concerning the advancement of Jeroboam and 
his ruin ;* of the old prophet of Bethel ;+ of Ahijah ;f 
of Micaiah, who announced the destruction of Ahab 
and the defess of his army ;§ of Shemaiah concern- 
ing the affliction of Jerusalem by the hand of Shi- 
shak: ;|| of. Azariah concerning the success of Asa ;1 
of Hanani concerning the wars of Asa ;** of lob 
and Eleazar against Jehoshaphat ΤΠ and of Jahaziel 
in his favor;{{—the predictions of Elijah §§- and 
Elisha ;|||| of Zechariah the priest against Joash;11 of 
Huldah concerning the death of Josiah, and the Baby- 
lonish captivity ;***—the predictions that after that 
captivity, the Jews should have no king of their own 
till the Messiah. came ;+}+—of Isaiah, who predicted 
the humiliation and downfall of all the rich and great 
men among the Jews, and the subversion of idolatry 
among his countrymen,{{{' the general distress and 
ruin of his nation,§§§ the shame and confusion of 
the fashionable and gay-dressed-women of his coun- 
try,||||| the infatuation of his countrymen, till their 
country should become desolate;111 of the invasion of 
Egypt and Ethiopia by the Assyrians ;**** and of Ke- 
dar in Arabia ;t{}t of the deliverance of Jerusalem from 
Sennacherib—the destruction of his army ;{{{f of the 
destruction of the kingdom of Israel and capture of 


* 1 Kings, 13. 1-3, compared with 2 Kings, 22. 23. 
t 1 Kings, 13. 11-34. . 
t 1 Kings, 11. 12.; 14, 1-20, and 15. 29, 30. 


§ 1 Kings, 22. || 2 Chron. 12. - 2 Chron. 15. 

** 2 Chron. 16. 9. Ἡ 2 Chron. 19. 2, and 20. 1,2 & 37. 

tt 2 Chron. 20. §§ 1 Kings, 17, 18. 19. 21. 22. 

{|| 2 Kings, 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 12. 13. am 2 Chron. 24. 15-26. 
*** 2 Kings, 22. 14-20; 23.29, 25. tH Ezek. 21. 27. 

ttt Is. 2. 10-17; 21. 18-21. §§§ Is. 3. 16-26. 

lil] Is. 3. 16-26. at Is. 6, 9-12. ἘΜῸΝ Fg 5:20. 


ttt Is. 21. 13-17. ΠῊ 2 Kings, 19, and Is. 10. & 29. 1-8. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 81 


the ten tribes,* of the destruction of the Assyrian em- 
pire,t and of Babylon and the Babylonian empire,t of 
the birth, name, fame, and fortune of Cyrus, king of 
Persia,§ of the preservation of the Jews as a distinct 
people,—of the conception, birth, character, suffer- 
ings, and circumstances of the life and death of the 
Messiah,||—and, together with other historical inci- 
dents, of the glorious triumph and reign of the Mes- 
siah, when he should have executed the vengeance of 
Heaven against his and their enemies, restored, in his 
person, the throne and dynasty of David, and estab- 
lished his kingdom over all the earth. Similar pre- 
dictions might be referred to in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, 
Daniel, Joel, Amos, Mieah, Haggai, Zechariah, Mala- 
chi, and others of the prophets, who have predicted the 
political fortunes of many, and the fate of all the na- 
tions of the earth, and the final and glorious establish- 
ment of the kingdom of the Messiah, combining, in 
one blessed and happy confederacy of nations, Gen- 
tiles and Jews, and all people under heaven, joyfully 
and gratefully submissive to his sway. 

These predictions are all parts of one vast pane 
comprising alike the unfulfilled with those fulfilled. 
So far as the system has been developed, and, without 
possibility of denial, up to the resurrection and as- 
cension of Jesus Christ, the predictions have been 
LITERALLY FULFILLED. The grammatical construction 
is proved, by the providence of God, to be the true 
and proper guide to the meaning of the prophecy. 
We ask, then, for the proof, that any other method or 
system op interpretation is to be applied to the balance 
which remain to be fulfilled. They are but part and 


* 46.15 8. t Is. 17. 12-14, and 37. 36. 
t Is. ch. 13. & 14. ὃ Is. 44. 45. and 2 Chron. 36, 22, 23. 
|| Is. 7. 14, and 53. 
8 


82 ΤῊΒ system | 
parcel of the one system—the one great chain of 
prophecy, contained in the Sacred Scriptures, many 
links of which have been unfolded, and confirmed, by 
the providence of God. To Him therefore do we 
look, as to the only true and faithful interpreter of 
staphibdy: Having spoken to us, in familiar language, 
by the mouths of our fellow-men—to whom He directs 
his communications—we interpret His language, on 
the same principles of grammatical construction, 
which we apply to that of each other. And having, 
Himself, by His providence, illustrated, and verified, 
the principles of literal interpretation, .by the most mi- 
nute and accurate fulfilment of every particular iota pre- 
dicted, we give up our reasonings and objections, sub- 
mit our judgment entirely to Him, believing that, un- 
less He has distinctly apprised us of a change made 
in the principles of interpretation, we are ‘bound, im- 
plicitly and rigidly, to interpret the prophecies yet re- 
maining unfulfilled, By THE VERY SAME RULES, AND UPON 
THE VERY SAME PRINCIPLES, WHICH HE HIMSELF HAS SANC- 
TIONED AND ESTABLISHED, IN His PROVIDENCE, BY THE 
VERIFICATION OF THOSE FULFILLED. This leads to a third 
remark. 
3. That there is no intimation whatever, in the word 
of God, nor has there been any given by the providence of 
God, that any other principles of interpretation are to be 
applied to that part of the system of prophecy remaining 
unfulfilled, than what God has taught us are to be ap- 
plied to that fulfilled. If there is, we claim that it be 
pointed out. A divine warrant must be produced for 
the change. We must have it distinctly and defi- 
nitely made known. The key to the meaning must 
either be given us directly by some new revelation 
from Jesus Christ, or his apostles; or the providence of 
God must so clearly and fully indicate the meaning, 


OF INTERPRETATION. 83 


that no room shall be left us to doubt. Neither of 
these things is the fact. 

In all the conversations of Jesus Christ, and i in all 
the preaching and writings of the apostles, there: is not 
the most remote hint dropped, that any such change 
has been made—that the spiritual or allegorical is to 
be substituted for the literal or grammatical. On the 
contrary, we find, that when they acted as prophets, 
and added to the system their several predictions, they 
adopted the very same style, often the very same terms, 
and recognized in their auditors the right and pro- 
priety of their applying the same principles of inter- 
pretation to them, that they themselves aid ἢ to the 
former prophets. 

The predictions of Christ, with regard to his suffer- 
ings and death, his resurrection and ascension, are 
precisely of this character.* They were literally, 
yea, most punctiliously and minutely verified. So 
also were his predictions in relation to the treatment 
which his disciples should receive from the world. 
Their trials and afflictions, and the persecutions they 
should endure on his account, are graphically des- 
cribed.t 

Such too were his predictions relative to the 
destruction of Jerusalem, and all that he uttered in 
the 24th and 25th chapters of Matthew, in answer to 
the questions of his disciples. As he spake of the 
destruction of the temple, they put to him three very 
distinct questions, “When shall these things be? 
What shall be the sign of thy coming?’ and what 
the sign “of the end of the. world?’{ To each of 


» Matt. 20. 18, 19. 

t Matt. 10. 16-22. 

t Matth. 24. 3, τῆς συντελείας τοῦ αἰῶνος. It is universally admit- 
ted, that the Greek word a:wy does not denote the astronomical 


84. THE SYSTEM I 


these questions he replies definitely and ‘in order, 
after having given some general cautions and advice 


world—the planet or globe we inhabit—nor the physical constitu- 


tion of things, but an age or dispensation. Its period or duration 
must be determined by a reference to the subject spoken of. Used 
absolutely,—ets τὸν atwva τῶν αιωνῶν----ἰξ is comprehensive of all, 
and, in this form, denotes eternity. Scapula gives seculum, id est, 
70 annorum spatium—vita, tempus vite hominis, and @vum, as its 
appropriate meaning in Hieron., Hom., Herodot., and Xen. 

Mede says, Seculum fuiurum Hebreis est xan ody. Unde, Mark 
10. 30, Luke, 18.30, αἰων ὃ coyopevos. Enphes. 2. 7, ἐν rots αἰῶσι τοῖς 
ἐπερχομένοι. Vide Psalm 71. 18, s>-52>, 15. 27. 6, onan, ven- 
turis sub diebus, id est, posthac Imposterwm.—Mede’s Works, fol. 
907 -8. 

Cuninghame says, “The word world is given up by the majority 
of English commentators, as an improper rendering ; and in the 
Latin versions of Jerome, Erasmus, Beza, and Montanus, a:wyos is 
not translated mundi, but, seculi.”? He quotes Waple on the 
Revelations, p. 248; Dr. Hammond on Luke, 1. 70; Leigh, in his 
Critica Sacra, as authority.* 

The apostles’ inquiry related to the end of thedispensation, when 
another αἰών, or dispensation, was to be introduced. And accord- 
ingly in the writings of the fathers (see Suicerus), the word atv 
frequently stood for this last period, that is to say, for a thousand 
years. From Tobit, 14. 5, it appears manifestly to signify the first 
of these great periods; viz. that which is to continue till the com> 
mencement of the Millenium; for it is there said of the Jews, that 
when the times of the age are fulfilled {(πληρωθωσι καιροι του αἰωνος, 
are the words of the Septuagint), they shall return from all places 
of their captivity. In Isaiah, 66. 18, the age to come signifies the 
second of these long periods, viz., the Millenium. So Christ is 
ealled (Is. 9. 6.) arno rov μελλοντὺς acwvos. See Cuninghame on 
the Apocalypse, 3d ed. pp. 295, 296. 

In the question, as propounded by the apostles, they contemplated 
the end of the one dispensation, which should give way to the 
other and more glorious, to be introduced at the coming of Christ. 
In Heb. 9. 26, em συντελεια τῶν αιωνῶν, and in 1 Cor. 10. 11, refer- 
ence is had to the Christian dispensation, as succeeding the Jew- 
ish, and as the last of all the dispensations, preparatory to the 
kingdom which is to be eternal. 


*See Cuninghame on the Apocalypse, pp. 294, 296. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 85 


to prevent their being imposed upon. The cautions 
and advice, according to the plain grammatical inter- 
pretation, grow out of the condition of things in the 
world, which he foresaw would continue till the very 
time of his coming, i.e. the end of the dispensation, 
viz. there should be impostors, false Christs, wars and 
rumors of wars, nations rising up against nations, 
famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. These things 
should be but the harbingers or the beginning of sor- 
rows, leading to the persecution and martyrdom of 
Christians, to offences and treachery in the church, 
to false teaching, to apostasies, and aboundings of 
corruption, while, nevertheless, the gospel would 
work its way through the earth, and be preached as a 
witness among all nations ; and then, but not till then, 
- should the end come. ‘This general description of the 
state of things during the evangelical dispensation up to 
the time of the end, is given from the 4th to the 14th 
verse of the 24th chapter of Matthew, inclusive. 
From the 15th to the 28th verse, he answers the 
first question,—referring to the predictions of Daniel 
describing the time when Jerusalem should be laid 
waste and the temple destroyed —not by chrono- 
logical dates, but by indicating certain events 
which should take place —and exhorting his fol- 
lowers, whenever they should occur, to hasten 
from the place. These things were so well under- 
stood beforehand, according to their plain grammati- 
cal import, that there was not a Christian that per- 
ished in the overthrow of Jerusalem, all having 
previously escaped out of it to Pella. At the same 
time he told them distinctly, that they were not to- 
look for his coming at that time, notwithstanding 
many false Christs should arise, and it should be said, 
Lo, he had come here, or, Lo, he was there. His 
Q* 


- 


86 THE SYSTEM 


coming would be like the lightning’s flash, whenever 
it should take place, and not be reported beforebiand. 
The tribulations that should commence in the world, 
at the destruction of Jerusalem, should not terminate 
until the time of his coming, but for the elect’s sake 
they would be shortened. There would be troubles 
such as the world had never seen before, and never 
would er: after they should have terminated with 
‘ his coming.* These things have been literally ful- 
filled, and are now at this day still going on. 


* Matth. 24. 21, 22. Itis taken for granted by many commenta- 
tors, that these unparalleled tribulations occurred during the siege, 
and at the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus; and therefore it is 
inferred that the prediction of Dan. 12. 1-3, which apparently 
dates that tribulation at the final destruction of Antichrist, Dan. 
11. 44, 45, and at the resurrection, Dan. 12. 3, must either be spirit- 
ually interpreted, or the one must be regarded as the type, and the 
other the antetype, or must be explained in some other way than 
according to the literal or grammatical interpretation, which, if 
applied to both the predictions of Christ and Daniel, would make 
them contradict each other. There is no necessity, however, for ἃ 
departure from the grammatical interpretation; nor is there any 
contradiction between Christ and Daniel. 

From Luke, 21. 20-24, which is parallel to Matth. 24. 15-22, it 
is obvious, that the tribulation of which Christ speaks, is not re- 
stricted to the days of Titus, as though it had reached its crisis in 
the siege and destruction of Jerusalem; but extends through the 
whole period of Gentile oppression and of Jewish depression, even 
to the termination of what is called “the times of the Gentiles.” 
Christ, in Matthew, and Daniel, both make the tribulation to be 
unprecedented ; but the former comprehends the whole period of 
Jewish oppression and Gentile domination, from the siege and de- 
struction of Jerusalem by Titus, till the fulfilling of “the times of 
the Gentiles,” i.e. to their complete termination—comparing this last 
with other periods of Jewish tribulation, which whole period he 
ealls in Luke, 21. 22, “ THESE DAYS OF VENGEANCE,” during whose 
continuance, “ all things which are written are to be fulfilled.” 
The tribulations of the Jews, in other words, Christ says, shouid 
be greater, during the whole period in which “ Jerusalem shall be 


OF INTERPRETATION. 87 


Having answered the first question, he proceeds, 
from the 29th to the 35th verse, to answer the second, 
stating, in symbolical language, that after the destruc- 
tion of Jerusalem, both the political and ecclesiastical 
world, designated by the symbols of the sun, moon, 
and stars, should be in a state of confusion, even unto 
shaking down and utter dissolution; and that when 
this shaking and utter dissolution of the ecclesiastical 
and political governments of earth should occur, then, 
and in them, would the world have the sign of his 
coming—which would be, at the proper time, a visible 
coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great 
clory, for the gathering of his elect from one end of 
heaven to the other. As certainly as the putting forth 
of leaves by the fig tree, indicates the approach of 
summer, so certainly should these things indicate his 
coming. 

The generation then present when he spoke, should 
not have left the earth till all these things begin to 


trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be 
fulfilled,’ (Luke, 21. 24,) than ever they had been previously, or 
shall be thereafter—strictly and properly designated as “ THE DAYS 
OF VENGEANCE,” expressly arranged and marked out by God, for 
the purpose of executing his predicted wrath—fulfilling all the pre- 
dictions—jpépat ἐκδικήσεως αὖται εἰσι, τοῦ πληρωθῆναι παντα τὰ yeypap- 
μένα, Daniel, in ch. 12. 1, 2, speaks of the close of this same 
extended period, when the times of the Gentiles shall be nearly 
fulfilled, and when the Jewish tribulation, which commenced under 
Titus, and has been ever since prolonged, is about reaching its 
climax. ‘The time of Jacob’s trouble,” (Jer. 30.7,) out of which 
he shall be saved, will prove the time for the overthrow of the 
Gentile nations, when Jerusalem shall prove a cup of trembling, 
and a burdensome stone to all that come against it, (Zech. 12. 1, 2,) 
and the fearful, terrible, and unprecedented crisis when the sym- 
bolical “carthquake such as was not since men were upon the 
earth, so mighty and so great,” (Rey. 16. 18,) shall occur, 


4 


88 THE SYSTEM 


be,* which is the meaning of the word “ fulfilled,’ in 
verse 34. What he had said was more certainly to 
take place, than the continuance of heaven and earth. 


τ Matth. 34. 34, ἕως αν παντα ταυτα γενηται. Mr. Cuninghame re- 


~ marks that the most proper and original signification of the verb 


γίνομαι is not to be completely fulfilled, as it is rendered in our 
English version of this passage ; but rather, “9 commencement, run- 
ning into subsequent continuance, of action.’? This generation 
shall not pass away, till all these things be fulfilling :—the aorist 
subjunctive. He quotes Luke, 21. 24, to show that γενωνται cannot 
be understood as synonymous with πληρωθωσι, and Rev. 15. 8, that 
it cannot mean τελεσθωσιν. In confirmation of this meaning, he says, 
‘It may be observed that the phrase ἁ de: γενεσθαι ev ταχεῖ; in Rev. 1. 
1, is explained on the same principle by Vitringa, Doddridge, Dr. 
Cressner, Woodhouse, the Jesuit Ribera, and others. Soin Matth. 
8, 24, Σεισμος peyas eyevero, does not signify that the storm was over, 
but was begun. In Matth. 8. 16, we have the words, oias δὲ ye- 
vonevns, the evening being come; in Mark, 6. 2, yevopevov σαββατου, 
the Sabbath being come ; John, 8. 58, πριν Αβρααμ yevecOat, before 
Abraham ®as born ; John, 13. 2, δειπνου yevopevov, according to our 
version is rendered, supper being ended; but according to Whitby, 
Doddridge, Macknight, Schleusner, &c., supper being come.—See 
Cuninghame on the Apocalypse, pp. 313-323, where the merits 
of the criticism are fully discussed. - I only add, that Scapula gives 
the meaning of the word γενομαι, nascor, orior. 

Nothing more can be fairly inferred from the Saviour’s use of the 
word γένηται, if the word yevea be used in the common sense, to de- 
note the period during which men simultaneously dwell together on 
the earth, a period of thirty years, than that, during the age of the 
inhabitants of the world, then living in his day, there would be the 
commencement, the rise, the opening, of the series; the birth of 
that course of events, he was then predicting. The scenes he 
predicted, in other words, would soon begin. With this view we 
are satisfied, as being conformable alike with the import of the 
Saviour’s language, and the comment of His providence. 

But if any prefer the criticism which determines the meaning of 
γενεὰ differently from the current acceptation of the word generation, 
we do not object. In either case, the text cannot be understood to 
mean that all should be accomplished during the lifetime of the men 
who were cotemporary with Christ; and we are relieved from the 


OF INTERPRETATION. 89 


In the 36th verse he replies to the third and last 
question, stating-that, as to the precise day and hour 
‘when the end should come, it was not to be made 


labored efforts of those who make the destruction of Jerusalem to 
be the main event referred to, and typical of that of the world, at 
the day of Judgment, and who quote this passage in proof of what 
they call a double sense of prophecy, and of the fallacious rule 
of interpretation founded on it. 

It is certain that the word yevea very often, both in sacred and 
profane writers, means a race, a family, a tribe, a nation, a class of 
persons united by sameness of character, disposition, or other ties, 
a people of common origin. Scapula assigns genus, progenies, as 
its proper meaning, and quotes Philo de Vita Mosis, as authority 
--καταλείπει μεν πατρίδα καί γενεὰν και πατρῶον οἶκον- A writer in the 
Investigator, vol. i. pp. 53-56, has quoted, in proof of this meaning, 
from Homer, Uiad Y. 303, 304,— 

Odpa μὲν ἀσπερμὸς γενεὴ καὶ adayTos oAnrat 
Δαρδανῶν᾽ 
“ That the race (or posterity) of Dardanus become not extinct.” 
Iliad ¢. 191,— 
ἸΚρεισσων δ᾽ avre Διὸς yeven ποταμοιο τετυκταί 9 
‘The race (or descendant) of Jove is superior to a river.” 
And from Hesiod, E. καὶ H. 281,— 
Tovde τ᾽ apavporepn γένεη μετόπισθε λελειπται. 
“The race (or progeny) of the perjurer is left to more obscurity.” 


And Josephus, A. J. 1, 10,—'O Θὲος καὶ παιδὰ αὐτῷ Ser εξαγ- 
γελλει καὶ πολλην εξ εκεινοῦυ yeveva,—~ @ Numerots race.”—And Sep- 
tuagint, Josh. 22. 27,—Tav γενεων ἸρῶΥ μεθ᾽ ἡμας.---ἰς Our genera- 
tions after us.” 

The following passages are given in proof of the absolute import 
of the word, as synonymous with a tribe, or people, or nation, with- 
out reference to the ancestor : 

Sophocles, Ajax, 190--- ας acwrov Xiovdiday yeveas. Euripides, 
Hecuba, 470—Tiravwy yeveax— The race of the Titans.” Auschy- 
lus, Agamemnon, 1538— 

6 de λοιπὸν tore” 
ex Twrde dopwy adAnv yeveay 
τριβειν Oavarots avOevratoty. 
ἐς To afflict another race (or family) ; opposed to that of the Plis- 
thenide.” 


90 THE SYSTEM 1, ᾿ 


known, but it should come upon the world just as the 
egg did in the days of Noah. It behoved them, 
Pindar, N em., VI. GA xennlderys yevea, an anciently celebrated 
family.”’ paidikes lliad E. 265,— 


Τῆς yap τοι yevens ἧς Tat περ evpvora ZLevs 
δωχ᾽ ὅιος ποινὴν [᾿ανυμηδεως. 
“Of that breed (or race) of horses.” 


The following, among other passages from the Septuagint, may 
be added to the above :—Psalm, 14.5; 24. 6; 73. 156. Gen. 31,3. 
Lev. 25. 41. The word is used in the New Testament i in the sense 
of race, tribe, people, nation. See Phil. 2. 15, where our transla- 
tors render it nation. The above is sufficient to justify the re- 

-marks of the learned Mede, who in Epist. 12, p. 752 of his works, 

says, “I prefer, as I said,” speaking of the import of the word in 

this passage, “ gens Judeorum; for what reasons nihil nunc attinet 

dicere. No man can deny but this is one of the native notions of 
yevea, yea, and so taken in the gospels: as in the foregoing chapter, 

Matth. 23. 36, Verily I say unto you, all these things shall come ex 

τὴν yeveay tavrnv—upon this nation. So Beza renders it twice in 

the parallel place, Luke, 10. 50,51, and seven times in this gospel. . 
Again, Luke, 17. 25, The Son of Man must be first rejected azo rns 

yeveas ravrns—Beza, ἃ gente ista. The LXX. renders by this word 

ay, populus, mnswn, familia, nasw, progenies, patria. See Gen. 

25. 13, and 43.7; Numbers, 10. 30, &c. I suppose here is enough 

for the signification of the word.” ‘ 

We are not concerned to decide which one, or whether both of 
these critical expositions should be adopted. The idea evidently 
is, that the things which Christ predicted, should now begin to de- 
velope themselves. The Jewish people, or race, should not perish 
till all should be fulfilled: according to Mede, or according to Cu- 
ninghame, the men of that day should not all have died, till the 
scenes Christ predicted should begin; or blending both,—the Jew- 
ish race should not become extinct during the whole course of the 
days of vengeance, in which all the things he predicted were to be 
fulfilled. See Stonerd’s Dissert. on the Disc. of Christ, pp. 188-193. 

Much more might be added here. Sufficient has been said to res- 
cue this passage from the use which has been made of it, for con- 
firming the double sense of prophecy, and introducing that confu- 
sion, which the spiritual interpreter and the rules of exegesis founded 
on the assumed double sense of prophecy, have always led to, in 
the interpretation of these predictions of Jesus Christ. 


with his coming to judgment, which he describ 
the remainder of the 24th and through the 25th chap-/ 
ters of Matthew. We shall have occasion, hereafter, 
to refer to these chapters for another purpose. We 
have given this brief exposition at present, merely to 
confirm the truth of our position, that the predictions 
of Christ recognize no new principles of interpreta- 
tion, but are as literally to be verified as those of the 
ancient prophets, and to be understood accordmg to 
the grammatical construction and import of the Jan- 
guage employed in delivering them. 
Equally true is it of the predictions of Paul, of 
Peter, and of Jude. They plainly refer to events in 
the church and world, to be literally, historically veri- 
fied, i. e. matters of direct, public, visible observation, 
not allegorical resemblances, and are easiest and best 
understood according to the grammatical interpreta- 
tion. As for those of John, in the book of Revela- 
tions, they are indeed delivered mainly in symbolical 
language, but the symbols are not all new. They are 
chiefly taken from Daniel, Ezekiel, and Zechariah, 
and are an exposition of many things contained in 
them, and therefore must be subjected to the same 
principles of interpretation applicable to them—which 
is not the allegorical but grammatical interpretation— 
according to the established import of the symbols, 
and to designate THINGS, AS REALLY AND HISTORICALLY 
TRUE, 1. 6. EVENTS TO occur, as if they had been 
described in alphabetical terms.* 

Besides, they are interspersed with alphabetical 
interpretations, which serve as the clue to the mean- 


* See Rev. 1. 20; 4.5; 5.8; 7. 13-16; 11.3,4,8; 17. 13, 14, 
15, 18; 19. 8, 10; 20, 2, 4, 5: 


92 THE SysTEM! τ 


ing of some of the more complicated symbols. Sym- 
bolical language has indeed been called figurative, and 
made a pretext for the spiritual interpretation, founded 
on a hidden sense. But we shall have occasion, else- 
where, to show that symbolical language is even 
more definite and immutable, as to its import, than 
alphabetical—that it does not possess the character 
of what rhetoricians call allecory—and that it is used, 
as truly and designedly as the alphabetical, to desig- 
nate events and scenes that are to occur in the church 
and world, as literally matters of public observation, 
events of history. 

The common and most plausible attempt made to 
prove the allegorical or spiritual interpretation to be 
correctly applicable to unfulfilled prophecy, is the 
following.—The phrase, the kingdom of God, or the 
kingdom of heaven, or, the kingdom of the heavens, it is — 
said, evidently, very-often in the New Testament, de- 
notes the church of God as a spiritual society, and, 
therefore, the language of prophecy relating to it, must, 
of course, possess an allegorical or spiritual meaning. 
In like manner, it is said, that the coming of Christ is 
a phrase employed in the New Testament, not in its 
literal sense, but analogically, to denote some special 
movement, or interposition of his providence, and, 
therefore must be analogically and spiritually under- 
stood. 

In reply to this, we remark, that the thing thus 
assumed must be proved. The phrase, the kingdom 
of heaven, we affirm, is not of mutable import, ac- 
cording to men’s fancies—now denoting the church 
of God on earth, as it is visibly organized, and then, 
its invisible members, the elect of God—then, again, 
the intermediate state after death—then, the Mille- 
nium—and then, eternal glory. It properly, accordmg 


OF INTERPRETATION. 93 


to fair grammatical construction, denotes the glorious 
dominion of Jesus Christ, to be established on earth 
at his coming, not a kingdom in the heavens, some- 
times illustrated, it is true, and frequently spoken of, 
as in its embryo condition, in its forming, preparatory, 
or inchoate state, comprising the saints on earth with 
the saints in heaven—destined to a future state of tri- 
umph and joint dominion with Jesus Christ, but never 
as an organized spiritual society, either in union with, 
er Opposition to, or in contradistinction from, the 
kingdoms.of this world. 

And as to His coming,* we utterly deny, that the 
phrases which are employed by Christ himself, and 
the New Testament writers, to designate His interpo- 
sition for the introduction and establishment of His 
kingdom, either-do, or can, upon any fair principles 
of grammatical construction, mean anything but His 
VISIBLE PERSONAL APPEARING—His second coming, or 
glorious return to earth. The assumptions, therefore, 
on which this whole system of spiritual interpretation 
is based, we pronounce to be altogether fallacious and 
untenable. They never have been proved. 

In a proper place, we shall show, that the idea of 
the church being the kingdom of God, was not:cur- 
rent in the world for several centuries after the Chris- 
tian era; yea, was not excogitated till after the intro- 
duction of the Platonic philosophy, from the schools 
of Alexandria, by Origen, and the rise of the spiritual 
interpreters. After the conversion of the Emperor 
Constantine to Christianity, and the establishment of 
the church and of the Christian religion by the laws 
of the Roman empire, the idea of an allegorical king- 
dom was conceived and adopted, and became, through 


* See Chap. ΧΙ. 


5» 


94, que system!) 
the corruptions of the times, the grand means, the lad- 
der, as it has been called,* by which the Bishop of 
Rome ascended to his lofty seat, where, claiming the 
kingdoms of this world, as the vicegerent of Jesus 
Christ, “‘he opposeth and exalteth himself above all 
that is called God, or that is worshipped ; so that he 
as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself 
that he is God.”+ 

There is, indeed, an anMlngiea)! use of language, 
which, founded on an assumed relation between moral, 
spiritual, and intellectual things, and physical, sensi- 
ble, and material forms, determines the meaning and 
use of terms originally taken from the latter, as suit- 
able representatives or expressions of our thoughts in 
relation to the former. It cannot, however, be claimed 
as a basis for Scriptural exegesis any more than for 
any other description of exposition. It, however, has 
been carried by a writer on the plenary inspiration of 
the Scriptures, to the most extravagant. results, and 
claimed as ample warrant for the double sense, alle- 
gorical or spiritual interpretation of the Scriptures. 
But the author’s whole system is founded on the fol- 
lowing vague, mystic, Aristotelian assumption, “ that 
all things in nature, being outward productions from 
inward essences, are natural, sensible, and material 
types, of moral, intellectual, and spiritual antitypes, 
and finally of their prototypes in God.”t This is 
avowedly making a physico-theological, or metaphysi- 
cal speculation about the origin-of creation, the phi- 
losophical key for the interpretation of the Scriptures, 
and needs but to be stated for its refutation. It dif- 


* The Glad Tidings, by H. D. Ward, p. 65, 82. + 2 Thess. 2. 4. 


t S. Noble’s Lectures on the plenary inspiration of the Scrip- 
tures, pp. 156, 157. 


OF INTERPRETATION. 95 


fers in its characteristic details, but is essentially of 
like character with the system of interpretation intro- 
duced by Origen, and which, in the progress of our 
discussions, we shall have occasion to notice. 

‘Whether, therefore, we contemplate the manner in 
which the cotemporaries of the prophets interpreted 
their predictions,—the manner in which the providence 
of God has interpreted, by their actual accomplish- 
ment, those which have been fulfilled—and the man- 
ner in which Christ and his apostles delivered theirs— 
using the very same phrases and language with the 
former prophets, and never giving the least intima- 
tion of any change to be made in the principles of 
interpretation—there is but one conclusion to which 
Wwe can come, viz.—THAT THE ENTIRE SYSTEM OF PRO- 
PHECY, UNFOLDED IN THE SACRED SCRIPTURES, RECOGNIZES 
AND ESTABLISHES, THE LITERAL OR GRAMMATICAL INTER- 
PRETATION, AS THE ONLY APPROPRIATE METHOD. 

Here we might rest, but we advance a step further. 
We claim for this system of interpretation the expli- 
cit direction and sanction of God himself. 


4. The spirit of inspiration long since authorized 
us to expect, and has pledged the literal fulfillment of 
prophecy, and God himself authoritatively and formally 
ordained that to this test must every prophet subject 
his predictions. The prophet exhorts us to study the 
predictions, and to compare them carefully with their 
accomplishment.* 


“ Seek ye out of the book of the Lord and read: 
No one of these shall fail; 
None shall want her mate: 
For my mouth it hath commanded, 
And his Spirit it hath gathered them.” 


* Isaiah, 34. 16. 


96 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


It is admitted by commentators* that while the lan- 
guage here is taken from the pairing of animals; it is 
designed to teach, that, as each has its mate, so shall 
it be with the prediction and its accomplishment. 
They shall be as certainly paired ; none shall want its 
fulfillment. 

But over and above this, it was Poesia enacted by 
Jehovah, asa fundamental law in His government of His 
people, that this should be the rule or test, which, down: 
to the time of the end, they should apply to the sayings 
of any prophet, who might-arise among them. Moses — 
commanded in the name of the Lord, in all cases of 
doubt about the genuineness and divine authority of 
a prediction, that if events did not verify the word of 
the prophet literally interpreted as men are wont to 
do: the language of each other, they were to be set 
aside. “The prophet which shall presume to speak a 
word in my name, which I have not commanded him 
to: speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, 
even that prophet shall die. Andaf thou say in thine 
heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord 
hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the 
name of the Lord, ὁ the thing follow not, nor come to 
pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, 
but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously.”+ 
The common sense of mankind requires the applica- 
tion of the saime test or rule to every one still who 
pretends to be a prophet ; and it is equally important 
for the cause of truth and the honor of God’s word, 
that in the study and interpretation of the divine pre- 
dictions, it should be as rigidly observed. 


* See Barnes on Isaiah, ad loc. ft Deuter. 18. 20-22. 


CHAPTER IV. 


THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION.—THE NATURE OF FIGU- 
RATIVE LANGUAGE. 


Tue general nature of the system of interpretation, 
applicable to the prophetical writings, has been aftirm- 
ed to be THE LITERAL, in contradistinction from THE 
spirITvAL. Various arguments have been adduced to 
prove the affirmation. In presenting those arguments, 
it has not been deemed necessary to give anything 
more than avery general definition or description of 
the two systems. It is possible, however, that mis- 
takes and misapprehensions may exist, in relation to 
the distinctive features of the system of literal inter- 
pretation, and that further information and illustration 
may be desired by those who would pursue, for their 
own benefit, the study of the prophecies. It is im- 
portant, therefore, to correct such mistakes, and to 
meet such wishes. It is possible that some may claim 
the authority of the apostle, for spiritualizing or ex- 
plaining by way of allegory, important moral and re- 
ligious truths.* He did unquestionably employ alle- 
gory for the illustration and enforcement of the im- 
portant truth, that no one minister in the Christian 
church should be vaingloriously exalted and honored 
for his work, above another. He selected the case of 
Apollos and himself, who were the favorites of par- 
ticular portions or parties in the church of Corinth, 
and by means of an allegory, suggested by the process 
of building a temple, undertook to show that all who 


~ 


*1 Cor. 4.. 6. 
oF. 


v8 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


contributed, of whatever material, to the growth of 
the edifice, were co-workers; and that, so far from 
men’s sitting in judgment, and condemning or honor- 
ing one laborer more than another, God was the only 
proper judge, who, as umpire does the building, would 
try the relative and absolute value of the materials and 
labor contributed by each. ‘ These things,” says he, 
“| have transferred to myself and Apollos, in a figure.” 
He made Apollos and himself examples, and schemed 
from them an illustration, on rhetorical principles, 
suited to the taste and genius of the Greeks, who were 
fond of eloquence, for the purpose of reproving the 
spirit of rer. and faction among them. This is all 
he means, * and it isa great mistake to plead this as 
a sanction for the general and indiscriminate spiritual- 
izing of the Scriptures. 

The literal interpretation has been defined to be 
what Ernesti has called the grammatical, and cannot 
better be exhibited in a few words, than in those 
which Dr. John Pye Smith states to be “ the common 
rule of all rational interpretation ; viz., the sense afford- 
ed by a cautious and critical examination of the terms 
of the passage, and an impartial construction of the 
whole sentence, according to the known usage of the 
language and the writer.” ἢ 

From this general view of its nature, it is obvious 
that there must be a careful attention to the different 
styles of speech, or modes of writing, adopted by the 
prophetical writers. By the different styles of speech 
we do not mean the varieties and peculiarities ob- 
servable between different writers—the things which 
distinguish the composition of one from another; but 
those modes of speech which the same speaker or 


*See Bloomfield’s Greek Test. ad loc. 
t Smith’s Script. Test. to the Messiah. vol. i. p. 214. 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE: 99 


writer is apt to adopt under different cireumstances and 
states of feeling, and which are easily and generally 
interpreted by the rules of rhetoric, founded on the 
well-established and essential laws of human thought. 
In unfolding the features, therefore, of LITERAL INTER- 
PRETATION, we remark— 


I. THAT IT DOES NOT REJECT THE TROPES OF SPEECH AND 
RHETORICAL EMBELLISHMENTS OF STYLE, BUT INTERPRETS 
THE MEANING OF THE PROPHET ALWAYS BY THE SAME 
RULES OF EXEGESIS THAT WOULD BE APPLIED TO THE 
SAME KINDS OF COMPOSITION. 


In doing so, however, it does not admit any precon- 
ceived notion of the nature of things, according to any 
metaphysical, philosophical, or theological views, to be 
the guide and interpreter as to what the language of 
the prophet means. In this respect, it differs radically 
from the course adopted and sanctioned by the spiritual 
interpretation. Thus, for example, when the prophets 
speak of the coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ, 
whatever style of speech they may see fit to employ, 
the literal interpretation mquires first what is the true 
and proper meaning of the prophet’s words—that which 
he himself attached to them, and designed to convey. 
In order to determine this, resort is had, not to any 
theory of prophecy, or preconceived opinions, but to 
the ordinary rules of rhetoric, applicable to the par- 
ticular style of speech employed by the prophets. 
That is, he first inquires whether, in the predictions 
examined, the prophet’s language contains any of the 
tropes of speech, or whether it is a plain historical 
statement, free from any rhetorical embellishments of 
diction. Having done so, he takes the appropriate 
meaning of the words, determined by the character of 
style, as the ideas designed by the prophet to be com- 
municated. Whether that coming and kingdom, 


100 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


therefore, are events literally and historically to occur, 
or are to be understood figuratively, the literalist deter- 
mines by his previous examination of the language of 
the prediction, whether trepical or not. The spiritual 
interpreter, however, pursues a different course. Hav- 
ing conceived beforehand, whether from education or 
the authority of commentators, that the coming and 
kingdom of Christ are and must be wholly spiritual,— 
that is, invisible interpositions of his divine power and 
influence, to affect and control the minds and hearts of 
‘men,—he takes it for granted, that the words are, and 
can only be, strong rhetorical figures of speech, em- 
ployed to express merely some general resemblance. 
The thing, he says, is spoken of as though it were 
really the fact that Christ should visibly appear and 
set up a kingdom on earth, to be visibly administered 
by him ; but is not so to be understood, the language 
being merely figurative—strong metaphors to express 
the resemblance or analogy between Christ’s invisible 
influence, and the visible means of influence by which 
the kings of this world assert and maintain their power 
—a mere rhetorical accommodation of language. 
Because, confessedly, a portion of prophetical 
language is delivered with metaphorical and other 
tropical embellishments of diction, the spiritual inter- 
preter thinks that he triumphantly answers the literal 
interpreter, by arrogantly refusing to concede to him 
any right at all to apply the rules of rhetoric, and re- 
quiring him, ἐπ all cases, to interpret. the Words liter- 
ally, that is, in his sense of the word, totally devoid of 
figure. Attempting thus to force the literal inter- 
preter into the assertion of things monstrous and ab- 
surd, he flatters himself, or with great self-compla- 
cency concludes, that he has triumphantly answered 
and exposed his folly. How often have we heard such 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 101 


attempts at wit and, ribaldry—such satirical flings as 
these! Shall the sun be literally turned into darkness, 

and the moon into blood? Shall such wonders, oceur 
in Heaven above, and signs. in the earth beneath, as 
literal blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke? Do we 
not read of the stars. falling from. Heaven, of a beast 
with seven heads and ten horns, of a little horn behind 
the ten, having a mouth speaking blasphemy ; and. of 
a certain lady that had her seat upon seven moun- 
tains ? Must not.all these, and such like monstrous and 
incredible things, the spiritualist asks, be spiritually — 
understood? Who. can beso weak and foolish 88. 10 

understand them literally? Such things being evi- 
dently figurative, he concluded that the spiritual 
interpretation is and must be the only true system, 
and consequently that all who advocate the literal 
only betray their own weakness. 

Such, sophistry. almost destroysthe respect we: wish 
to entertain for the men that employ it. Because we 
advocate the literal verity of the events or things. pre- 
dicted, interpreting the language of prophecy accord: 
ing to the grammatical or rhetorical rules, applicable 
to.its particular character, it does, not, therefore: fol- 
low, that every metaphor and symbol, or trope: of 
speech, must be stripped of all. its emament, and we: 
be charged with absurdly maintaining, either directly 
or by fair implication, that when a man is called a lion 
he is a lion indeed, or when a woman. is said. to have 
appeared in heaven clothed with the sun, having the 
moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of 
twelve stars, there ever, literally or in reality, was 
such a thing. It is disingenuous, yea, worse tham 
puerile, to endeavor to excite odium against, or to 
pour ridicule upon, the literal interpretation of such 
sophistry. For we remark— 


102 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION . 


Il. THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION CAREFULLY SEARCHES 
‘FOR THE GREAT AND LEADING THEME OF PROPHECY, 
' WHICH GIVES SHAPE, CHARACTER, AND IMPORT, TO THE 
‘ENTIRE SYSTEM, AND APPLYING TO THEM THE RULES 
‘OF PHILOSOPHICAL AND BIBLICAL EXEGESIS, THE PRIN- 
CIPLES OF GRAMMATICAL CONSTRUCTION AND INTERPRE- 
“TATION, DETERMINES WHETHER THEY ARE TO BE IN- 
TERPRETED LITERALLY OR ALLEGORICALLY. ἢ 


Admitting the existence of tropes, or figures of 
speech, in the different predictions, the literal inter- 
preter, however, assumes no general notion or precon- 
ceived opinion about the nature of the thing, for the 
interpretation, in any case, of the language of a pro- 
phecy, until its import has been established by the 
ordinary rules of exegesis. 

It is true, that some ignorant sectaries and wild 
fanatics; such as the Mormons, and a certain class of 
perfectionists, who adopt the views οἵ a Mr. Beman, 
on the subject of the kingdom of Heaven, and others 
of kindred ignorance and error, insist upon every ex- 
pression being taken literally, without any reference 
whatever to any tropes of speech, so that when God 
is called a rock and Christ a lamb, and Christians sheep, 
they are not to be understood as metaphorically, but 
really such—a pretence so utterly absurd and inso- 
lently ignorant, as to merit nothing but pity for the 
weakness, or contempt for the nonsense of those that 
make it. The literal interpretation, for which we 
contend, knows no alliance with such absurdity ; and 
they who object to it, as identical with such nonsense, 
only display their own ignorance or malice. 

To this, perhaps, it will be objected ; where then is 
the difference between the literal and spiritual inter- 
pretation? If the literalist admits the existence of 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 103 


figurative expressions in prophecy, and the spiritualist 
admits the literal character of many predictions, 
wherein do. they differ 1 Do they not after all substan- 
tially come to the same thing? To this we reply, that 
they differ as greatly in their mode of interpreting as in 
their results. The spiritualist, for example, assumes that 
THE COMING AND KINGDOM OF €HRIST are things which are 
not. and cannot be literally meant and understood, but 
wholly figurative representations of something spi- 
ritual. By means of thisassumption, every expression 
inconsistent with his spiritual idea of the nature of 
Christ’s coming and kingdom, also becomes figurative, 
and his whole interpretation of the prophecies and 
exposition of the Scriptures, assumes a correspondent 
spiritual hue or character. His assumed or precon- 
ceived notion of the nature of the things, is the colored 
glass or lens through which he reads the Sacred 
Scriptures. The literalist denies all such assumptions, 
and calls for proof, subjecting the language of the 
prophets, on these points, to the most careful investi- 
gation by means of philological and rhetorical tests 
and rules. The spiritualist, however, does not in the 
first instance, by the application of philological and 
rhetorical tests and rules, determine. whether these 
terms, THE COMING AND KINGDOM OF CHRIST, are, or are 
not, literally to be understood ; nor does he undertake 
to prove either from Scripture or from any other 
source, that his assumed notion or opinion of the 
nature of the things is correct. That must not be 
disputed. Here, then, is one essential difference 
between them. 

These expressions obviously are the key-note to the 
entire system of prophecy. If they are literal, at once 
they give the pitch, or help us to fix the meaning of 
many predictions, and to judge when other expressions 


104 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION, 


used by the ‘prophets, are metaphorical or literal. If 
they are spiritual, in the same way they give tone to 
the entire language of prophecy, and shape its meaning 
accordingly. It is not our design at present philo- 
logically or grammatically, to settle the meaning of 
these terms. That must be done in another place. 
Our object here is merely to unfold the principles by 
which the literalist proceeds in his investigation of 
the language of the prophets. 

Here, perhaps, it will be objected, how is it possible 
to settle this difference between the two systems, and 
to determine whether these expressions are figurative, 
or whether they are not. We reply, as we have 
already stated, that recourse must be had to the 
ordinary and well-established rules of rhetoric. How, 
we ask, do you tell when another uses metaphors and 
figures of speech, or when he speaks according to the 
plain alphabetical import of his language? Although 
the reader may be just as ignorant as a little child of 
the rules of rhetoric, yet he finds no difficulty, nor 
does the child. According to the established laws of 
human thought, on which those rules are founded, the 
meaning is at once perceived. The import of the 
metaphor at once appears when you call a man a lion 
to denote his strength and magnanimity, or a puppy to 
denote his meanness, impertinence, and insignificance ; 
or when you compliment a lady by telling her aa has 
a rosy face and a snowy skin. 

We are not concerned to quote the rules of rhetoric 
applicable to tropical words; but it may be proper to 
remark, that the evidence of our senses and that of 
intuition and of consciousness, which we all have in 
common, enables us, whether children or adults, at 
once, as the case may be, to perceive whether the 
thing asserted be literally or figuratively spoken. If 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE, 105 


literally taken, as when we calla man a lion or an ass, 
we see it would contradict the evidence of our senses 
or involve an absurdity. At once, therefore, we 
apprehend the speaker’s design to denote some re- 
sembiance of properties, and not identity of substance. 
No one ever dreams of interpreting language literally, 
when it is directly contradictory of the evidence of his 
senses at the time, or his consciousness, or any 
intuitive truth. 

There is nothing in the-idea of Christ’s visible 
coming, and of the establishment of a kingdom on the 
earth, with a visible administration adapted to ‘its 
elevated nature and designs, at all contradictory of 
any evidence of sense or of consciousness, or incon- 
sistent with any intuitive truth. Yet is it manifest, 
that if the literal idea be esteemed absurd, and the 
notion of his coming and kingdom as mere spiritual 
matters be adopted, there is much in the language of 
the prophets that must be accounted figurative, which 
would otherwise be plain enough literally understood. 
To the allegorical or figurative import of these words 
the literalist objects, affirming that the only correct 
philological and biblical interpretation requires them 
to be understood literally, and consequently, that the 
general import of the prophecies must be determined 
accordingly. 


II. THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION ‘REQUIRES A CAREFUL 
ATTENTION TO THE DIFFERENT STYLES OF PROPHETICAL 
LANGUAGE, FOR THE PURPOSE OF APPLYING THE APPRO- 
PRIATE RULES BY WHICH TO ASCERTAIN THEIR IMPORT. 


No one can long turn his attention to this subject 
without discovering that there are various styles of 
speech employed in the prophetical Scriptures, which 

10 


᾿ 
106 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


may be, and are properly denominated THE ALPHABETI- 
CAL, THE TROPICAL OR FIGURATIVE, THE SYMBOLICAL, AND 
THE TYPICAL. xP ERS fe 
1. ALPHABETICAL LANGUAGE isthe plain ordinary style 
of speech which men employ to state or to set forth 
simple matters of history, and unembellished by 
figurative expressions. Many of the predictions are 
expressed in this style, entirely devoid of figures and 
tropes of speech. Occasionally, passages are thrown 
into the book of Revelations in the sanfe style, intended 
as a clue to the meaning of some of its highly- 
wrought and complicated symbolical descriptions. In. 
alphabetical language, words are used in their proper 
sense, i. e. “ the sense which is so connected with them 
that is first in order, and is spontaneously presented to 
-the mind, as soon as the sound or the word is heard.’’*: 
2. Beside alphabetical language, there is what may 
be called TROPICAL OR FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. This the 
prophets use, in common with all writers, sacred or 
profane, who, discussing or describing things which 
deeply interest their feelings, naturally employ figures 
and tropes of speech, to express, in a more lively man- 
ner, their ideas. Thus, proud and stately aristocrats 
are called cedars of Lebanon and oaks of Bashan ;} 
the troops of Egypt and of Assyria are called the fly 
of Egypt and the bee of Assyria; and God is said to 
shave with a hired razor,{ and his hand to be stretch- 
ed out still, and many such like mere tropical words, 
which the parallelism of Hebrew poetry, the rules of 
rhetoric, and the connection of thought, generally en- 
able the reader to understand. 
Here, it may be proper to remark, that in the pro- 
phets’ use of figurative language, we meet with every 
variety of tropical expressions and rhetorical embel- 


* Ernesti on Int. p. 7. jf Isaiah, 2.13. 1 Isaiah 7. 18-20. 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 107 


lishments. It is perfectly natural to expect this, as 
well from the very nature of their commission—which 
was to enlighten, reprove, comfort, and reform—as 
from the condition and circumstances of those whom 
they addressed. The very nature of their messages 
rendered it impracticable for them to speak without 
emotion. Different emotions, however, have different 
ways of expressing themselves; and, therefore, the 
method adopted by those under their influence, and 
who seek to persuade others, will not be, by logical in- 
vestigation, or cool dispassionate argument, to enlight- 
en and convince, but, by exciting and enlisting the affec- 
tions and passions appropriate to the nature of the 
subject, or to the purpose of the speaker, to gain the 
party addressed. The language of the prophets, there- 
fore, naturally became that of the passions. They ap- 
peal, not directly to reason, but use it only as auxiliary. 
Often, indeed, they are highly poetical, adapted in 
this respect to the mass of common people, who are 
swayed infinitely more by feeling than reason. Ac-. 
cordingly, the prophetical writings are far more replete 
with feeling than argument, highly descriptive, often 
exceedingly impassioned, and therefore abound with 
all those tropes and figures of speech, which nature 
suggests and which the rhetorical art has classified. 
This feature of prophetical language has furnished 
occasion to the spiritualist, to claim for his method of 
interpretation, entire respect and confidence, as the 
only true and proper system. And, accordingly, we 
hear a great deal about the extravagance or intensity 
of Hebrew poetry, the turgid, hyperbolical cast of 
oriental imagery, and the semi-barbarous taste, which 
is pleased with and requires such things. On this 
ground some have given undue prominence to the 
prophets’ use of figure, and deprived the prophecies of 


ae Sa, Foe 


108 THE SYSTEM OF ἹΝΤΕΝΡΠΈΤΑΤΙΟΝ. 


all substance and meaning, until with the rationalists 
of Germany, and certain Unitarians of the United 
States,* having so generalized, or spiritually explained 
the predictions, they have utterly destroyed al] coin- 
cidencet between the prophecies thus explained, and 
the events which were their literal fulfillment, and 
have thus prepared the way for the denial. of such a 
thing as prophecy altogether. 

To all this the literal interpretation objects, contend- 
ing, that however abundant may be the employment 
of figures and tropes of speech, by the prophets, we 
are not authorised to allegorise the whole, any more 
than your friend or neighbor, addressing: you under 
the influence of impassioned feeling, and abounding in 


* See Gesenius on Isaiah. A late Unitarian discourse preached 
in Boston, (May 19, 1841,) may be quoted in proof of the tendency 
of this system of spiritual interpretation. Speaking of the simple 
faith, required to be given to the Bible, according to its plain 
grammatical import—because of its infallible inspiration, the au- 
thor says: “ On the authority of the written Word, man was taught 
to believe impossible legends, conflicting assertions; to take fiction 
for fact; a dream for a miraculous revelation of God ; an oriental 
poem for a grave history of miraculous events; a collection of 
amatory idylls for a serious discourse, ‘ touching the mutual love of 
Christ and the church ;’? they have been taught to accept a picture, 
sketched by some glowing eastern imagination, never intended to 
be taken for a reality, as a proof that the infinite God has spoken 
in human words, appeared in the shape of a cloud, a flaming bush, 
or ἃ man who-ate and drank and vanished into smoke; that he 
gave counsels to-day, and the opposite to-morrow; that he violated 
his own laws, was angry, and was only dissuaded by a mortal man 
from destroying at once a whole nation,—millions of men who 
rebelled against theirleader in a moment of anguish.”” Th. Parker’s 
discourse on the transient and permanent in Christianity, pp. 19, 20. 
“The most distant events, even such as are still in the arms of 
time, were supposed to be clearly foreseen and predic'ed by pious 
Hebrews several centuries before Christ.”—p, 20. See also p. 30. 

t Hengstenburg, Christol., vol. i. p. 233. 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE. “> 109s 


figurative expressions, must be understood, in all he 
. says, to speak allegorically, and not just what the 
rhetorical import of his words expresses. All that the 
fact of the prophets’ language abounding with figures 
of speech, does or can prove, is, that we must be careful, 
according to proper rhetorical rules, to distinguish be- 
tween the images or figures employed, and the facts 
they are designed to represent,—that is, to interpret 
similes and allegories, metaphors and metonymies, 
synecdoches and antitheses, hyperboles and irony, 
prosopopeias and apostrophes, and all such rhetorical 
embellishments, just as we would in any other writ- 
ings. 

Here, perhaps, a few general remarks on the inter- 
pretation of figurative language, may be proper. If 
words occur together, which, the evidence of our 
senses shows, are perfectly contradictory and incon- 
sistent with each other in their literal meaning, we at 
once detect a metaphor, and search for the resem- 
blance, as when God calls Jacob his battle-axe,* Jeru- 
salem a burdensome stone,t Moab his washpot,{ and the 
like. The very nature of things, in such cases, intui- 
tively proves the language to be figurative. So when 
Christ said to his disciples, taking and holding the 
bread in his hand, which he brake before their eyes, 
“This is my body which is given for you,’’§ their 
sight taught them that he spake metaphorically, and 
could not. possibly, without absolute rejection and 
contempt of the evidence of their senses, be under- 
stood literally, according to the absurd pretence of the 
Papists, who reject the evidence of their senses. 

The metaphorical import of expressions, however, 
cannot always be thus easily detected ; for often their 


* Jer.51.20. f Zech. 12.3. { Psalm, 60.8. § Luke, 22. 19, 
10* 


110 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


figurative import depends upon the nature of some 
truth or fact either proved or assumed to be true, with 
which it is utterly inconsistent to interpret them liter- 
ally. Here, therefore, there is great danger of 
false interpretation, and the greatest care should be 
taken, lest we assume things to be true which are not, 
and think we have demonstrated positions, which are 
untenable. A vast amount of error and confusion, in 
the interpretation of the figurative language of pro- 
phecy, arises from this source. A thing may seem to 
us to be contrary to our physiological and philoso- 
-‘phical theories ; yea, to some known and established 
law of nature, altogether inconsistent with our expe- 
vience and observation, a perfect miracle, and yet, in 
the nature of things, it be not impossible for the power 
_ of God to accomplish. In itself there may be nothing 
absurd and contradictory, although, to our limited know- 
ledge, and within our contracted sphere of observation, 
_ it may appear so. In _such cases we must be very 
cautious how we pronounce. the language «3 prophecy 
to be figurative. 

Thus God promised to Abraham, that Sarah should 
have a son. This was a thing altogether inconsistent 
with the established order of nature as Paul has 
shown,* and might, at first, have created a doubt in 
Abraham’s mind, whether it would be or ought at all 
to be literally understood, and whether there might 
not be some recondite spiritual meaning involved in 
the words. But the thing, though inconsistent with 
the ordinary operations of nature, was not im- 
possible with God, and the event proved that God 
meant that Abraham should believe it as a thing to be 
literally true, and no figure about it. He has given 


* Romans, 4. 19. 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 14L 


‘us also a valuable hint here, because this very thing” 
so wonderful was made a type or symbol of further 
things which God intended to-do. So the prophecy 
of the miraculous conception of the Messiah, delli- 
vered by Isaiah, when he said, “ Behold, a virgin 
shall conceive and bear a son,”* might have been 
supposed for the same reason, altogether figurative ; 
and the very minute incidents, apparently inconsist- 
ent with other descriptions of the Messiah, viz. that 
he should ride upon an 855,7 that he should be prized 
at and sold for thirty pieces{ of silver, the price of a 
slave, and similar prophecies, might have been judged 
altogether contradictory of other and glorious things 
predicted of him, and therefore to be incapable of any 
other than some allegorical or spiritual explanation. 
But the event has shown how far they would have 
erred who should have thus allowed themselves to 
interpret the prophecies. 

Ernesti has correctly remarked, that in relation to 
uninspired writings, it very rarely happens, that there 
is any doubt about (the meaning of metaphorical lan- 
guage,) because the objects spoken of are such as 
may be examined by our senses external or internal, 
and therefore the language may be easily under- 
stood.”§ The remark is just as applicable to the 
metaphorical language of the prophecies, and proves 
the principle which he has quoted from Donhauer, 
Tarnoff and Calovius, to be the true one, viz. “ that 
the literal meaning is not to be deserted without evi- 
dent reason or necessity.” We must therefore be- 
ware, how we assume a thing to be true, which is not 
either intuitively so, or obvious to the senses, and 


“5, Isai. 7.114. t Zech. 9. 9. t Zech. 11. 12, 13. 
§ Elementary Principles of Interpretation, p,. 72. 


112° THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


then, in the light of that assumption, pronounce this 
and the other statement of a prophet to be inconsist- 
ent, and contradictory, and consequently of necessity 
figurative. It is lamentable to mm how much of this is 
done. 

Theology has suffered, nearly, if not fully as much 
as prophecy, from this things How are men’s views 
of regeneration, and their interpretation of the lan- 
guage of the Bible on the subject, founded on certain 
physiological notions and theories of the nature of 
life, or on metaphysical opinions about the nature of 
the will, and of human dispositions and states of mind, 
and. the: duioenve of inspiration made to teach wet 
theories, their systems, and their philosophy, and to 
mean more and other things than the Spirit of God 
intended. In like manner, we can trace the influence 
of their views as to the nature of justice upon the 
interpretation of scriptural language in relation to the 
atonement of Jesus Christ, and of their metaphysical 
notions about the foundation and certainty of know-’ 
ledge in relation to the doctrine of election. The same. 
may be said of justification, and sanctification, and 
holiness. 

A specimen or two of inattention to the principle 
just stated from Ernesti, we give, in relation to the 
prophecies, from the interpretation of the spiritualists. 
Dr. Hengstenburg allows himself thus to reason. 
“The prophets, m many places, give especial promi- 
nence to the fact, that the kingdom of the Messiah is 
to be a kingdom of peace, and all the heathen, under 
a dive influence, are voluntarily to become its sub- 
jects. If now the same prophets, who describe the 
kingdom of the Messiah as entirely peaceful, never- 
theless speak of wars and triumphs of the Theocracy, 
(comp. Is. chap. 2. with chap. 9, &c.,) in the one 


-. 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 113 


case or the other, their expressions must necessarily 
be figurative.’””* 

This we deny—the inference is by no means just; 
for it is easy to conceive, that the wars and triumphs 
of the Messiah, of which the prophets speak, relate to 
the period of vengeance to be executed upon the 
guilty nations that opposed his sway, and that they 
are designed and prosecuted expressly to prepare the 
way for the introduction and establishment of that 
kingdom of heaven, which is “ righteousness, peace, 
and joy in the Holy Ghost.” 

A careful attention to times and dates, as contem- 
plated by the prophets, will show that they describe 
two great epochs in the Messiah’s kingdom, the first 
of retributive vengeance and destruction on anti- 
Christian nations, and the second, its peaceful, pros- 
perous, and universal establishment throughout the 
earth. Yet have spiritual interpreters, by assuming 
false positions, and judging by them, whether language 
is figurative or not, instead of confining themselves to 
plain rhetorical rules, actually lost sight of, and ex- 
plained away, those fearful and appalling predictions, 
hereafter to be fulfilled, which describe the revolu- 
tions, convulsions, conspiracies, overthrow, and poli- 
tical destruction of the existing nations eave within 
the field of prophecy. 

An example of the same kind may be cited, from 
the manner in which they explain the coming and 
appearance of Jesus Christ. There is nothing in the 
thing itself, literally understood, that is contradictory 
or absurd—nothing at all impossible or inconsistent 
for God. It is just and reasonable to believe that He 
will personally come, and appear in triumph and. 


* Christology, vi. p. 237. 


114 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


glory, as that He actually did so come, and appeared 
in humiliation and suffering—yea, far more so. But 
the spiritual interpreters, assuming that the visible 
church is the kingdom of Heaven, and that its general 
and: universal influence and establishment among the 
nations of the earth, constitute the triumph and glory 
of Christ in His kingdom, of course are forced to in- 
terpret the expressions metaphorically, and conse- 
quently to allegorize or spiritualise all the descrip- 
tions of the prophets on these themes. They have 
assumed, too, a vague spiritual notion of the day of 
judgment, as though it were simply and exclusively a 
short period allotted for judiciary purposes and none 
other, when there would be a universal, simultaneous 
assemblage of mankind before God for judicial trial, and 
with this limited and imperfect notion, taken from 
human tribunals, have undertaken to judge what is 
and what is not figurative in the language of the pro- 
phets, in reference to the coming and kingdom of 
Christ. They should have compared prophecy with 
prophecy, thoroughly examined the dates and epochs 
of the scenes described, grouped together the whole 
description of what the prophets meant by the day of 
judgment, weighed well the character of all the several 
acts, and whether they do not comprehend much more 
in their account of it, even all the functions of gov- 
ernment, legislative and executive, as well as judi- 
ciary, instead of taking up a partial, imperfect, ima- 
ginary idea, running an analogy with human courts, 
and in the light of such an assumed idea, rather than 
by the careful investigation and application of rheto- 
rical rules, judging what is figurative and what is not, 
and so mistaking altogether the Scriptural notion of 
the day of judgment. 

It is unnecessary to add anything further on the 


TROPICAL LANGUAGE. 115 


figurative language of prophecy than that the ordinary 
thetorical rules will enable us to judge,—when the 
prophet employs the tropes of speech ;—when he 
uses metaphor or metonymy, synecdoche or hyper- 
bole, prosopopzia or apostrophe ;—when he employs 
a simile, or extends his similes into an allegory ;— 
when, assuming the narrative or historical style, his 
allerory becomes a fable or parable, as in Ezekiel’s 
lamentation over the princes of Israel,* he speaks of 
them, and of their doom, as of the whelps of a lioness, 
one of whom should be caught and caged by the king 
of Babylon ;—when in the same chapter he describes 
the history and fate of the commonwealth and church 
of ‘Israel, by a vine, for a season prosperous in its 
growth, but afterwards rooted up and scattered 
abroad, and burned with fire;t—or when by the 
parable or riddle of two eagles and a vine, he showed 
the judgments of God, on Zedekiah’st minute rules 
on this subject, may be learned from hermeneutical 
and rhetorical works; but none, or all, are of any great 
value, without that common sense which men feel to 
be important and necessary in their study of other 
books than the Bible. Valuable hints may be obtained 
from Mede, Vitringa, Newton, Bishop Horsley, Cun- 
inghame, Brooks, Anderson, and other writers on pro- 
phecy; but especially from Bickersteth,§ who, al- 
though he has not been as discriminating as he might 
have been in reference to the principles of interpre- 
tation, has nevertheless “suggested some excellent 
rules and cautions, most of which commend them- 
selves to the good sense and piety of the reader.” 


* Ezek. 19. 1-9. ¢ Ezek. 19. 10-14. { Ezek. 17. 2-10. 
§ See Bickersteth’s Practical Guide to the Prophecies, chap. 2. 
pp. 12-40. 


1106 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


_ 3. There is yet a third style of prophetical lan- 
guage, characteristically different from tropical, or 
that sort of figurative language which is to be inter- 
preted by the application of the ordinary rules of 
thetoric, viz. syMBoLicaL LANGUAGE. Symbols are 
very frequently confounded with ordinary figures, 
although they have their own peculiar and distinctive 
traits. Similes state distinctly the resemblance be- 
tween two things, as when the Psalmist says, the 
righteous is like an evergreen.* Allegories are ex- 
tended resemblances. Metaphors are implied resem: 
blances; as when we describe the property of one 
person or thing, by giving to it the name of another 
person or thing, in which that property may be parti- 
cularly conspicuous, calling an eminent statesman ἃ 
pillar of ‘state, or, as Christ did the Pharisees, “a 
generation of vipers.” Symbols are yet more general, 
and imply more than metaphors. They are things, 
either of nature or art, used and understood to be the 
signs or representatives of some intellectual, moral, 
political, or historical truth. Symbolical language 
speaks to the mind, as the picture does to the eye. 
It is rather a language represented by things than by 
words. ‘The fixed unalterable nature of things, in the 
various objects presented in the physical world, the 
prophets have preferred. as furnishing a better means 
to convey definite and immutable ideas, than even the 
definitions, which men frame, in the use of alphabetical 
language. 

‘These remarks will be better understood from a 
brief and comprehensive account of the origin, use, 
and nature of symbolical language, in giving which 
we avail ourselves of the very lucid and valuable 


* Psalm, 1. 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 117 


chapter of Mr. Faber on this subject.* In the infancy 
of all nations and languages, ideas are much more 
numerous than words. The few words which men 
possess, such as the names of animals, and of things 
around them, are therefore used, not only in their natu- 
ral and primary sense, but also in an artificial, tropical, 
or figurative sense. Hence, all infant nations, and half 
civilized tribes, abound in metaphors, and allegories, 
and various styles of figurative speech. We heara 
great deal about Oriental imagery, and the highly 
wrought figurative style of the Hebrew prophets, as 
though there was something peculiar to the East in 
general, and in the highest degree among the Hebrew 
prophets ; but the Indians of our own forests abound, 
as much as they do, in the tropes of speech. It is 
not any peculiar taste for poetry, but sheer necessity, 
induced by the poverty of language, that leads to 
this. 

The Indian, devoid of language suited to diplo- 
macy, resorts to significant objects and acts, and talks 
of burying the tomahawk and lighting the pipe, by the 
very same law of human thought, which made the an- 
cient Hebrew talk of cutting a covenant, or lifting his 
hand, both alluding to ceremonies well known and un- 
derstood to be emblematic. 

This sort of tropical language is perfectly natural,. 
and the very child soon becomes familiar with it. 
How natural is it to call warlike and ferocious men, and 
tribes, lions or tigers, and artful, insidious, malicious 
persons, vipers, snakes in the grass,—the plodding in- 
‘dustrious man an ox,—the cunning knave a fox,—the 
quick-sighted attorney a lynx,—the vigilant and prowl- 
ing adventurer a hawk,—the faithful and affectionate 


' * See Faber’s Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, vol. i. chap. 1. 
11 


118 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


domestic a spaniel, and the like?’ The names of lion, 
tiger, panther, great buffalo, bloodhound, &e., given 
by our savages to their warriors, are in accordance 
with the fact, that in proportion to the poverty of a 
language, and to the want of abstract terms,—which 
is always the case where there is defective civilisa- 
tion,—will the language of people become more or 
less symbolical, that is, they will be disposed to em- 
ploy things as the representatives of ideas. 3 

Now, supposing that such a people should have’ 
occasion to communicate with each other at a distance, 
of necessity they would revert to pictures,* being as 
closely analogous as possible to their spoken language 
The image of a man would be the most natural sign 
of a man, but if it should be desired to describe some 
particular properties of that man, the most natural 
method would be to delineate, in connection with the 
image of a man, the likeness of some animal or object 
remarkable for that property, until, presently, the 
natural object would be used as the shortest and best 
description,—the picture of a snake, a fox, a lion, or a 
dog, asthe case might be, being substituted for the man. 
These things would then acquire a permanent mean- 
ing, and be used to denote a whole class of men of 
like properties. Hence originated the hieroglyphical 
style of writing. Carrying the system out, and ap- 
plying it to families and nations, in the most natural 
and easy way, it would lead to what has been called 
the tropical hieroglyphies of Egypt, and lay the foun- 
dation of the whole science of heraldry. 

Accordingly we find that it was anciently, and con- 
tinues still to be, the practice of nations to use sym- 
bols, or things, as signs and representatives of their 


* See Warburton’s Divine Legation, vol. ii. p. 234, &e. 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 119 


character,—the dove being the device of the ancient 
Assyrian empire,—the lion of the Babylonish,—the 
ram of the Medo-Persian —the he-goat of the Grecian 
or Macedonian, and the eagle of the Roman. So at 
this day, the lion is the device of Great Britain, the 
bear of Russia, and the spread-eagle of the United 
States. From such a use of language and style of 
writing, very naturally arose what is called the fable, 
or apologue, or parable, in which objects in nature are 
made to represent persons, and the whole to conceal 
some moral or historical truth, of which we have a 
very striking example in the fable or parable of Jo- 
tham,* and abundant among other nations than the 
Hebrews, as the Greek fables of sop, the Roman 
fables of Menenius Agrippa, the Arabic fables by 
Lochman, the Indian fables by Pidpay, and the 
French fables by Lafontaine. The fable is a speaking 
hieroglyphic, and if the story of it be delineated, either 
by the pencil or the chisel, it becomes at once a painted. 
or a sculptured hieroglyphic. 

It was on this very same foundation, the poverty of 
language, that the whole system of the Oneirocritics, 
as they are called, i.e. interpreters of dreams—supposed. 
to be prophetical, was built, of which we have speci- 
mens in Jacob’s interpretation of Joseph’s dreams,t 
Joseph’s interpretation of the baker’s and butler’s and 
Pharaoh’s dreams,t and Daniel’s interpretation of Ne- 
buchadnezzar’s.§ The interpretation was not arbitrary 
or imaginary, according to the whim and caprice of 
the soothsayer, but proceeded according to fixed and 
definite rules, founded on the import of symbolic lan- 
guage, so that this branch of divining became a sci- 
ence, which was studied and practised among heathen 
nations, highly respected and honored in Egypt and 


* Judges, 9. 8-15. t Gen. 37. 10. 
t Gen. 40. 5-20; 42. 1-32. ὃ Dan. 2, 31-45. 


] 
120 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


Babylon, and cultivated by the Hebrews.* There is 
reason to. believe,.that much of the studies pursued 
in the school of the prophets, instituted in the days of 
Samuel, was designed to qualify for the right use and 
interpretation of symbolic language. The dreams 
related by Herodotus,t of Astyages, that a vine 
sprang from the womb of his daughter, and rapidly 
overspread all Asia, and of Xerxes that he was crown- 
ed with the wreath of an olive tree which covered all 
the earth, but which suddenly and totally disappeared, 
may have been, for anything we can say to the con- 
trary, as truly from God as those of Pharaoh and 
Nebuchadnezzar, and capable of being interpreted 
even by the heathen Oneirocritics correctly, accord- 
ing to the definite and established import of symbols. 

Mr. Faber has referred to Artemidorus, Astrampsy- 
chus, and Achmetes, and the other Oneirocritics, who 
are mentioned by them, as assuming the general prin- 
ciple, that such and such hieroglyphies bear such and 
such a meaning; and this point having been laid 
down, they very readily fabricate their interpretations 
of dreams accordingly. ‘“ Thus,” adds he, “ because 
poverty of language had anciently produced sucha 
figurative mode of expression,—heaven, from its ex- 
alted situation, having been made the symbol or hiero- 
glyphic of supreme regal power,—if a king dreamed 
that he ascended into heaven, the ancient Indians and 
Persians, and Egyptians, as we learn from Achmetes, 
interpreted his dream to signify, that he would obtain 
the pre-eminence over all other kings. And thus, an 
earthquake being, very naturally, for the same reason, 
made a symbol of a political revolution, if a king 
‘dreamed that his capital or his country was shaken by 
an earthquake, his dream, according to the same writer, 


* Warburton’s Divine Legation, vol. ii. p. 67. 
t Herod, 1. i, c, 108, and 1. vii. c. 19. 


5 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 123 


was explained to portend the harassing of his do- 
minions by external or internal violence.’’* 

Such is the principle, on which is built the symboli- 
cal language of prophecy. Like the ancient hiero- 
glyphics, and like those non-alphabetical characters, 
which are divided from them, it is a language of ideas, 
rather than words. It speaks by pictures quite as 
much as by sounds ; and through the medium of those 
pictures, rather than through the medium of a labored 
verbal definition, it sets forth with equal ease and pre- 
cision, the nature and relations of the matters pre- 
dicted.| Hieroglyphics are the painted or sculptured 
images of the things employed to represent or express 
some moral, political, historical or religious ideas. 
Symbols are those things themselves, and symbolical 
language but the setting forth or expressing such 
ideas by means of the names of those things which 
represent them. 

Many of the predictions of Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, 
Zechariah, and other of the Old Testament prophets, 
were delivered in this style of speech. The Revela- 
tions of the apostle John are almost wholly of this 
character. But it must be obvious to every intelli- 
gent reader, that the language of symbols is no less 
appropriately employed to represent real things, 
events literally and historically to occur, than is 
either alphabetical or metaphorical language. All 
that is requisite, is to ascertain the import of the sym- 
bol, and to apply the rules appropriate for the inter- 
pretation of such language. So far from being vague, 
and liable to the whims and caprice and fancies of in- 
terpreters, it is even more fixed and definite in its 
import than alphabetical language. 

* Faber’s Sac. Cal.,-v. i. p. 10. 


t Faber’s Sacred Calendar, νυ. i. c. 1. 
it" 


CHAPTER V. 


THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION.—SYMBOLICAL AND 
TYPICAL LANGUAGE. 


Tue fact that the Sacred Scriptures, and especially 
the prophetical parts, abound in figurative language, is 
not to be questioned. God has expressly declared, 
that He sometimes spoke alphabetically by the pro- 
phets ; at other times employed visions, and at others 
still, used similitudes, i. e. symbolical objects and ac- 
tions, for the purpose of making known his will: “1 
have also spoken by the prophets, and I have multi- 
plied visions and used similitudes by the ministry of 
the prophets.”* The style of speech, therefore, 
adopted by Him, must be duly and carefully attended 
to, in order to understand his meaning. [t would be 
altogether inappropriate, to interpret alphabetical 
speech by the rules applicable to tropical language. 
Equally so would it be to lose sight of the peculiar 
nature of symbolical language, and to interpret it as 
we would ordinary metaphors. Each has its own 
character ; and the rules of rhetoric and the general 
laws of human thought must be appealed to, in order 
to understand its import. 

This, we have shown, does not militate against what 
is-called the literal, in contradistinction from the spir- 
itual interpretation, the leading and essential charac- 
teristic of which is, that the prophecies set forth 


* Hos, 12. 10. 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 123 


real persons and.events, as literally and historically to 
arise and occur in the world, as any matters of his- 
torical observation and verity which have already 
transpired. In defending and illustrating this posi- 
tion, we noticed, in the last chapter, the alphabetical 
style of writing, which is devoid of rhetorical embel- 
lishment and explains itself, and the metaphorical or 
tropical, to be interpreted according to the ordinary 
rules of rhetoric. Notice, too, was taken of a third 
style of speech in the prophetical Scriptures, viz. 
symbolical language ; on the origin, use and nature of 
-which some remarks were submitted. We resume 
the consideration of this subject. 

It was shown that symbols are things, used as signs 
or representatives of ideas, instead of words; that 
this style of speech originated in the poverty of lan- 
guage, and is the most natural, appropriate, and uni- 
versal method adopted by fatal nations and half civil- 
ized tribes, to express their thoughts to each other ; 
and that hieroglyphics are but the painting or exhibi- 
tion to the eye, which the sound or name of the things 
are to the ear, both being the representatives or signs 
of thought. Symbolical language, it was shown, was 
the language of ideas rather than of words, and found- 
ed on some definite, established, and well-understood 
import of the thing, when used as an emblem or sym- 
bol of thought.. This well-understood import of sym- 
bols, it was further shown, formed the foundation on 
the one hand of the whole science of heraldry—yet 
prized in some parts of the world—and on the other 
hand, of the whole system of the Oneirocritics, or of 
‘divining future events by dreams believed to be pro- 
phetical—pretensions to which sort of sorcery are yet 
made, even in Christian countries, and books circu- 
lated purporting to aid the fortune-teller and others in 


124, ‘THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


the interpretation of symbols. There is scarcely a 
nation on the face of the earthyamong whom, in some 
form or other, either of science or of superstition, the 
language of symbols does not to some extent obtain. 
It is characteristically different from what are called 
emblems, though symbols and emblems are often con- 
founded. Symbols, as we have shown, are things, 
either of nature or of art, used to denote ideas. Em- 
blems are no more than paintings, carvings, engrav- 
ings, basso-relievos, or other representations intended 
to hold forth some moral or political instruction—pre- 
senting one thing to the eye and another to the under- 
standing. Inlaid Mosaic works and all kinds of orna- 
ments, vases, statues, sculptured and fine-wrought 
productions, were called emblems by the Greeks. 
We more commonly mean by them, some pictured 
representation with a device, such as are found on 
seals, or use the word in a tropical sense. Some, who 
have undertaken to write what are called symbolical 
dictionaries, as Daubuz, and Wemyss who has fol- 
lowed him very closely, are not careful to distinguish 
between metaphors, emblems, symbols, and allegories, 
but use the term synonymously with figurative—a 
thing very common among commentators, and which, 
we doubt not, has contributed to much confusion in 
the study and interpretation of the prophecies. Bishop 
Warburton has shown,* that the hieroglyphical style 
of writing, which led to the employment of emblems, 
and, in the progress of idolatry and superstition, to 

the use of sacred gems called abraxas and of the talis- 
man, grew most naturally out of the necessity there 
was in infant nations and high antiquity, before lan- 
guage was refined and extended, to employ symbols, 
or make things the representatives of ideas. 


* Divine Legation, v. ii. sec. iv. 


of writing their laws and history was by means 
ture writing—the hieroglyphics of Egypt—the ‘pre: < 

sent characters of the Chinese, which are an improve- — 
ment on the hieroglyphics of Egypt, the images having 
been thrown out, and the outlines and contracted 
marks only being retained—all are to be traced to the 
necessity there was for the employment of symbols. 
He accounts it the uniform voice of nature speaking 
to the rude conceptions of mankind ; for not only the 
Chinese of the East, the Mexicans of the West, and 
the Egyptians of the South, but the Scythians, like- 
wise, of the North, and the intermediate inhabitants 
of the earth, viz. the Indians, Phenicians, Ethiopians, 
&c., used the same way of writing by pictures and hie- 
roglyphics—written symbols. 

That the prophets, who had alphabetical characters, 
and were thus enabled to write ina manner entirely dif- 
ferent from these rude attempts, should nevertheless 
preserve in their writings a ldrge amount of sym- 
bolical expressions, need not be thought a strange 
thing, nor derogatory to the spirit of inspiration, which 
indicted their communications. For, the language of 
symbols is not only the natura] language of men in 
the primitive state of society, but also the most uni- 
versal—all nations, whether civilized or barbarous, be- 
ing capable of understanding it much better than the 
abstract alphabetical, or unfigurative language of those 
highly cultivated. It is, therefore, the fittest and most 
appropriate, for the Spirit of God to employ, in utter- 
ing those predictions, which involve the interests of 
the world. None can be more universal. In order to 
understand symbolical language, it is not necessary to 
understand the vernacular language of the nation 
which uses it. It is said that those who understand 


126 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


the import of the hieroglyphical characters employed 
by the Chinese, can read their books, though they 
may not understand a word of their spoken language, 
because its characters are not alphabetic, the signs of 
words, but of things. 

_ The immutable nature of the thing wehiokst is used as 
a symbol, forms a better representative, than the 
changing character of the words which denote that 
thing. It matters not how much living languages may 
change, or how much the sounds of words, which ex- 
press things, may vary, if we understand the thing 
that forms the symbol, we catch more readily the idea 
symbolised by that thing. Thus, for example, it is a 
matter of little moment with us, when we understand 
what the sun symbolises, whether it is called Schemesch 
by the Hebrew, Shemsco by the Syrian, Schams by the 
Arab, Schims by the Moor, Je by the Chinese, Zahado 
by the Ethiopian, Helios by the Greek, Sol by the 
Latin, Solei] by the Frenchman, Sonne by the Ger- 
man, Schiin by the Mantschou Tartar, Sunna by the 
Anglo-Saxon, or Sun by the English. Whatever may 
be the written mark or character, or syllabic sounds, 
which in different languages denote the thing, the 
thing itself is the same, and standsan immutable sym- 
bol, much to be preferred as a representative of thought, 
than naked unfigurative language. What we thus 
say of one is true of every symbol, and therefore the 
definite and fixed import of symbolical language, ren- 
ders it the best and fittest vehicle of prophecy. 

This conclusion contradicts the opinion of many. 
For, against such language it has been often objected, 
and especially by persons predisposed to infidelity, 
that it is of necessity very obscure and uncertain in 
its meaning. Persons of this description, having read 
the prophecies of Daniel, of Zechariah, and of the 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 127 


apostle John, which abound in symbolical language, 
and having met with some symbols exceedingly com- 
plicated and monstrous, are apt to lay the Bible down, 
and to pronounce the whole prophetical portion of it 
unintelligible. It would be just as rational and be- 
eoming, to reject every work written in a foreign dia- 
lect, and to pronounce it unintelligible. Let but the 
key to the meaning of the words, or of the characters ἡ 
we attempt to decipher, be obtained, and there will 
be comparatively little difficulty. 

Now the key to the meaning of the symbols used by 
the prophets, is to be found in the Sacred Scriptures. 
Symbols are often used and interpreted precisely as 
did the ancient Oneirocritics, that.is, upon the known 
and admitted import of the thing as the representative 
of ideas ; examples of which we referred to in the last 
chapter, in the interpretation of the dreams of Joseph, 
and Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar. At other times, 
where the import of the symbol is not so obvious, 
where it may be a complicated symbol, and nothing 
like it exists in nature, but be the creation of the 
prophet, or description of something seen by him in 
vision, there there is generally found a clue to the 
_ interpretation in some alphabetical hints or definitions 
incidentally thrown in. We give a few examples. 

Daniel, in describing the things he saw in one 
of his visions, speaks of a ram with two horns,* one 
higher than the other, seen in the very act of growing 
out of his head, the higher one growing up last ; 
which ram pushed westward, and northward, and 
southward from the river Ulai in Persia, and fought 
with the other beasts, so that none could stand before 
him. He also tells us, that some time after, while he 


* Dan. 8. 1-12. 


128 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


was yet considering the exploits of this ram, he saw 
a he-goat come from the west with astonishing 
rapidity, bounding, as it were, on the face of the 
whole earth, and not even touching the ground. 

This goat, ite he describes as having one notable 
horn between his eyes, came against the ram, and ran 
unto him in the fury of his power. ‘I saw him,” says 
he, ““ come close unto the ram, and he πιο 
with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake 
his two horns, and there was no power in the ram to 
stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, 
_ and stamped upon him, and there was none that could 
deliver the ram out of his παπᾶ. This he-goat 
became exceeding strong; but presently his notable 
horn was broken, and in its place came up four other 
notable horns toward the four winds of Heaven, i. e., 
north, south, east and west, out of one of which came 
a little horn whose exploits also he describes. This 
is not metaphorical language, but symbolical ; and the 
clue to its interpretation} is afterwards given in 
alphabetical words so plain that they cannot be mis- 
taken, the ram being the Medo-Persian empire, estab- 
lished by Cyrus, and the he-goat the Grecian empire 
established by Alexander of Macedon, the histories of 
which empires, both in their rise and overthrow, 

correspond exactly, I may say literally, with the 
description given of these two beasts. 

Another example is taken from the Rinsho of 
John the apostle,t where, relating his vision, he 
describes a lascivious and lecherous woman, who had 
yielded her embraces to the kings of the earth, and. 
was riding on a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of 
blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. On 


* Dan. 8. 7. + Dan. 8. 19-25. { Rev. 17. 1-18, 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 129 


her forehead was a name written,—Mystery, Babylon 
the Great, the mother of harlots, and abominations of 
the earth. Arrayed in purple and scarlet color, decked 
with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a 
golden cup in her hand full of abominations and 
filthiness of her fornication, she became drunk with 
the blood of the saints, and of the martyrs of Jesus. 

This is a complicated symbol, but there are alpha- 
betical hints and definitions given in the very same 
chapter * and other parts of Scripture, which furnish 
the key to unlock its meaning. The seven heads are 
seven mountains on which the woman sitteth, and also 
seven kings or forms of sovereignty, five of which had 
fallen or ceased, at the time John prophecied; the 
sixth being then extant ; and the seventh, another form 
of sovereignty, to arise at a future period, and to 
last but a short. time, but be resuscitated shortly in 
some one of the seven, prior to the destruction of 
the beast and the woman together. The ten horns of 
the beast are ten kingdoms, which were not in being 
when John wrote, but should arise, and conjointly 
persecute the saints, and afterwards turn against the 
woman that rode upon the beast. The woman is 
that great city which reigneth over the kings of the 
earth. And her name was Babylon the Great, the very 
title by which Peter, writing from Rome, meta- 
phorically designated that city.}. Σ 

* Rev. 17. 9-18. 

J 1 Pet. 5. 13. The church that is at Babylon elected, &c. 
“On the Βαβυλῶνι there has been no little diversity of opinion. 
Some as Mill, Bertram, Pearson, Wolf, Wall, and Fabrie, take to 
denote Babylon in Egypt. But this has no probability, and has 
been refuted by Lardner, who with the ancients, and many eminent 
moderns, as Grotius, Hamm., Whitby and most of the Romanists, 
think that by Babylon is figuratively meant Rome: and this is 

12 


oF 


ae ee eo δον ay een σον 


130 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


‘We need scarcely name the complicated power here 
described. The picture speaks for itself to every one 
acquainted with the history of the Roman empire, the 
rise, growth, and abominations of popery, and the 
persecutions for a time while devoted to the see of 
Rome, of the ten papal kingdoms that originated co- 
temporaneously with popery, but which have since, 
one after another, begun to hate the whore. There 
are yet parts of the prediction remaining to be fulfilled, 
the resuscitation of one of the heads of the beast, a 
form of sovereignty which had previously existed— 
which, however, we are not told, and therefore 
whether it is to be the consular, Napthtiennt, or im- 
perial form, the dictatorship, the decemvirate, the 
military tribunate, or its last and now defunct form, 
time must show. Were we to hazard a conjecture here, 
we should say with Mr. Faber,* that in all probability, 
the seventh and last head of the beast, the political 
Roman empire, was the military empire of France, 
which reached its greatest power and glory under 
Napoleon,-—which continued but a short time, and was 
killed by the sword of the allied sovereigns; and 
which will revive in some ascendant political and 
military dynasty, in the formation and development 
of which, France is destined to act a conspicuous 
part, and by means of which, we add, the way will be 
prepared for the exhibition of the last mia infidel phase, 
of popery, under which aspect she is to be suddenly, 
violently, and irrecoverably destroyed by the deso- 
latmg vengeance of Heaven inflicted on the city of 


supported by the united voice of antiquity. Certain it is there are 
many points of resemblance between that queen of cities, and what 
weconceive of ancientBabylon.”—Bloomfield’s Recensio Synoptica, 
Ann. Sac., vol. viii. p. 692, ad loc. : 

* Faber’s Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, vol. iii. p. 177-218. 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 131 


Rome, and the system which has so long made Rome 
its capital.* 

Whatever may be the silk or sogunhebiliey of such 
conjectures, in relation to the parts of this extended 
symbolical prophecy remaining to be fulfilled, certain 
it is, that the alphabetical interpretations given in the 
seventeenth chapter of Revelations, the accuracy of 
the description, both of the beast, viz., the political 
Roman empire, and of the woman riding on the beast, 
i.e. papal Rome, and the amount of the prediction 
already fulfilled, direct us to literal historical verities 
which have oecurred in the world, and are yet-destined 
to occur, in the cotemporaneous destruction of the ten 
kingdoms and of the papacy. Other examples might be 
adduced, but these may suffice to prepare the reader 
to understand what we mean by the literal interpreta- 
tion of symbolical prophecy, and to appreciate a few 
further remarks on the subject. 

In alphabetical language, words are signs of things, 
and often different words are used to denote the same 
thing, giving rise to what we call synonyms, which, 
instead of rendering language obscure, only serve to 
render it more precise and beautiful. When a word, 
however, as is sometimes the case, is used to denote 
different things, or as Paul does the word law, in dif- 
ferent senses, then obscurity is apt to arise. Symbo- 
lical language avoids this obscurity. The same sym- 
bol is not used to denote different things, which have 
no analogical resemblance and relation to each other, 
for there would then be inextricable confusion in the 
interpretation of prophecy. Different symbols are in- 
deed used to denote the same thing, but the same 
symbol is not used to denote different things, unless, 


*' Rev: 15..,2}᾿ 


ΜῊ ΠῚ 
182 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


indeed, there is a close relationship and a manifest re- 
semblance between them ; as when the sun is made the 
symbol of supreme power, it may denote the supreme 
power either in the church or state, according to the 
nature of the subject spoken of. “Hence,” as Mr. 
Faber has remarked,* “the language of symbols, be- 
ing purely a language of ideas, is, in one respect, 
more perfect than any varied language ever known 
and employed; it possesses the varied elegance of ~ 
synonyms, without the ee which springs from 
the use of ambiguous terms.” 

The symbols employed in the. prophetical Serip- 
tures, may be divided into purE and mrxeD, and the . 
former again into sIMPLE or natural, and comPouND or 
artificial. Mrxep Sympors are those which. possess 
sometimes a metaphorical and sometimes a symbolical 
character, being found in allegorical description, in 
theological and didactic statements, and in prophetic 
story. Thus, parturition or birth is used metaphor- 
ically} to denote the sinner’s change of heart, and 
symbolicallyt the origin of a community. The world, 
metaphorically,§ denotes wicked men, but symboli- 
cally,|| a body politic, either ecclesiastical or political, 
or a dispensation. Sores, metaphorically speaking, 
denote both morally ‘and theologically the vices or 
corruptions of society, and symbolically the profligacy 
of a state, or the corrupt notions and principles in the 
body politic, after they have broken out into overt ac- 
tion, as Isaiah has allegorically described the condition 
of a corrupt and degenerate church and state.1 [τ is 
unnecessary to multiply examples: but it must be obvi- 
ous, that, in the interpretation of this class of symbols, 
great care and discrimination are necessary, to deter- 


* Sacred Calendar of Prophecy, vol. i. p. 15. ft John, 3. 5, 6. 
t Is. 66.8. ὃ John, 17.14, &c. || Heb.2.5;6.5. Is. 1.6. 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 133 


mine when the prophet speaks metaphorically, merely 
to embellish his description or to illustrate a truth, and 
when he. speaks symbolically, to set forth things or 
events to occur. The neglect of this sort of discrimi- 
nation, has led to much confusion with some, as to the 
nature of symbols, and of the figurative language of 
prophecy in general, as well as to their interpretation 
of it. 
Pure Symsots comprehend those things, which, 
either in their simple state, as existing in nature orart, 
or as compounded by the fancy of the prophet, are 
used as the representatives of ideas. Of simpLE sym- 
BOLS, the most numerous class is those taken from the 
natural world, with its various divisions and constitu- 
ent parts. As a whole, the world symbolically de- 
notes a body politic, and that, according to the ana- 
logy above referred to, may be either sacred or profane, 
ecclesiastical or secular. | 
But, as the world may be viewed as associated with 
other parts of the universe, as for example, the hea- 
vens, the sun, the moon, the stars, the clouds, and the 
earth, as comprising several constituent parts, suchas 
the seas, the rivers, the islands, the mountains, &c., so, 
each part becomes in its turn a distinct symbol :—zhe 
Heavens, from their high elevation, and from their be- 
ing the region or space in which the sun and stars, &c., 
are placed, denoting in general the constitution or fun- 
damental structure or basis of the government,—the 
sun, the supreme authority—the moon, the next high- 
est co-ordinate authority, the Queen, for example, in 
“regal governments—the stars, the principal officers, 
such as princes and magistrates of the realm, or of 
the territorial domain—+zhe mountains, principal king- 
doms—the islands, inferior states—the sea, the mass of 
.the people collectively taken,—rivers, the people of 
195 


1 
134. THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


different provinces, or the subordinate kingdoms of an 
empire—and floods, the irruption and invasion of hos- 
tile armies or predatory communities. 

These symbols, applied to ecclesiastical bodies: or 
churches, possess an analogous import. Accordingly, 
when applied to secular empires, the blackening of the 
sun ora solar eclipse, denotes the destruction or sus- 
pension of the supreme authority—the turning the 
moon into blood, the destruction of the higher subor- 
dinate authorities—the falling of the stars, the revolt 
ὋΣ destruction of the princes, or principal officers of 
state—the rolling of the heavens together like a scroll, 
great revolutions issuing in the destruction of the 
constitution—and taking all together, in general, great 
political convulsions tending to the subversion of the 
state or empire. 

In reference to ecclesiastical and spiritual things, 
the darkening of the sun will denote the decay of evan- 
gelical religion by obscuring the light and influence 
of Jesus Christ, who is metaphorically and symbolic- 
ally the Sun of Righteousness—the turning the moon 
into blood, the calamities, afflictions, and persecution of 
the church—the falling of the stars, apostasies among 
ministers of religion—the heavens rolling together like 
a scroll, the revolution and subversion of the visible 
church. 

In like manner, an earthquake, politically, denotes a 
revolution—a storm of hail and fire, the desolation 
of an empire by invasion, or the irruption of barbarian 
hordes—the removal of mountains, and islands, the 
subversion of kingdoms and communities—the turn- 
ing of the sea and rivers into blood, the destruction by 
sanguinary war of large masses of people—and the 
drying up of rivers, the wasting of the population and 
revenues of a kingdom. These may be called simpLe 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. - 135 


oF NATURAL SYMBOLS, whether used singly or grouped 
together, for they, both individually and collectively, 
really exist in nature. © 

Comprounp symBots are those which, although in 
their individual or integral parts they have a veritable 
existence in nature, are nevertheless grouped or com- 
bined together, sometimes in monstrous forms, and 
always in such combinations as find nothing answer- 
able to them in nature, but are the creations of the 
prophet’s mind, or the pictures that were presented to 
him in vision.. Of this sort are the wild beasts des- 
cribed by the prophets, differing, sometimes mon- 
strously, from any actually existing. A beast being 
the symbol of an empire, its different members are 
employed to denote something pertaining to that 
empire. Thus, the beast with the seven heads and ten 
horns, is explained to denote the political or secular 
Roman empire—the heads, distinct forms of supreme 
authority—and the horns, separate and distinct king- 
doms. Others of like complicated character might 
be noticed, such as the woman clothed with the sun,* 
having the moon under her feet, and on her head a 
erown of twelve stars, while in parturition attacked 
by a great red dragon with seven heads, and ten 
horns, and seven crowns upon his head, having a tail 
which drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and 
cast them to the earth, all which, when interpreted 
according to the import of the symbols, gives us, as 
we are disposed to believe, though differing from 
most. commentators on this subject, a description of 
the opposition made by the secular government of 
pagan Rome against the piety of the Christian church, 
and which finally issued in the birth and prevalence of 
popery for 1260 years. . 


* Rev. 12. 


136 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


It is unnecessary to notice the variety and. desul- 
tory character of many other symbols, taken from the 
elements—thunder and lightning, hail and tornado, 
tempests and volcanoes, from a great city, from a 
sealed book, from the harvest, and the vintage, a sup- 
per, and a great battle, and the like. Nor is it neces- 
sary to detail the rules which different commentators 
have laid down, by which to determine the import of 
a symbol, in any of its particular uses ; some excel- 
lent remarks on which subject may be found in John- 
son’s introduction to his Exposition of the book of 
Revelations, and Mr. Faber’s Calendar of Sacred 
Prophecy, and -other works of kindred character. 
Enough has been brought into view to give some 
general idea of the nature and structure of symbo- 
lical language, and to show that while things, either 
simple or compounded, are made the representatives 
of ideas, such language, nevertheless, as distinctly and 
definitely as alphabetical, directs us to LITERAL MATTERS 
OF FACT, REAL OBJECTS AND EVENTS, matters of visible 
observation in this world, HISTORICALLY TO BE VERIFIED. 

4. There is yet what may be called a fourth style 
of language in which prophecy has been sometimes 
delivered, viz. that of ΤΎΡΕΒ. 

ὝΤΥΡΕΒ are often confounded with symbols, because 
they bear a very strong resemblance to them, being 
visible signs, figures, actions, persons, rites, or insti- 
tutions, representing something intended to be made 
known. There are, however, one or two essential 
points of difference. A type was understood τὸ 
represent something future, just as a copy does the 
original, and in this sense, the word is generally used 
in contradistinction from antetype, which denotes the 
original or thing itself.* In this sense Paulf says 


* See Warburton’s Div. Leg., vol. ii. pp. 646,647. f Rom. 5. 14. 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 137 


Adam was a type of Christ. Isaac, too, as required 
by God to be sacrificed, and as offered by Abraham,* 
was a type of Christ, by which Paul says Abraham 
received some clearer views as to the love and provi- 
dences of God in sacrificing the Lord Jesus Christ, his 
Son, the Messiah. The paschal lamb was a type of 
redemption by Jesus Christ. The brazen serpent was 
a type of the cross of Christ as the means of salva- 
tion. - The Levitieal priesthood, and, indeed, the 
whole tabernacle and its furniture, with its various 
ordinances and worldly sanctuary, were typest of 
Christ, the great High-priest of our profession, offici- 
ating, as He now does, in a greater and more perfect 
tabernacle not made with hands, the original or ante- 
type which the tabernacle, suited to a migrating state 
in the wilderness, and the temple afterwards adapted 
to amore permanent state, were designed to represent. 

Another difference between types and symbols is, 
᾿ that the import and use of the latter grew naturally 
out of the poverty of language, whereas the former 
depend, originally and entirely, upon the appointment 
of God, or the fact that He designedly employed them 


as a means of instruction. ‘This, idea is of great im- 
portance in the study and interpretation of the Scrip- 
tures; for it will administer, in THE FIRST PLACE, a 
necessary check to those who are disposed to give 
loose to their imaginations, and interpret everything 
historical and ceremonial, under the Old Testament, 
as typical of something under the New—and, in THE 
SECOND PLACE, supply the proper guide and limitations 
as to what is called the secondary, occult, or double 
sense of prophecy. We are not authorized to say 
this action or the other, this person, event, cere- 


* Heb. 11. 17-19, + Heb. 9.9; 10, 1. 


138, THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


monial, or the other, was typical, unless we learn, 
from the Sacred Scriptures, directly or indirectly, that 
God so intended it to be. Nor are we to take it up 
as a general principle, and employ it for the interpre- 
tation of all prophecy, that because some predictions 
have been unquestionably delivered intentionally with 
a double reference, therefore we must seek a double 
meaning—first a literal, and then a spiritual—in all. 

These remarks will be better understood from a 
brief view of the nature and origin of types. One of 
the most ancient, simple, and natural modes of com- 
municating men’s conceptions to each other, is by 
expressive actions. It is equally applicable to civil 
and religious matters. There is reason to believe 
that the very first revelation God ever made to man, 
of the fact and scheme of redemption through Jesus 
Christ, was made in this way. From the historical 
account given by Moses in the 3d chapter of Genesis, 
of the pronouncing of the curse on the human race, 
it would appear that God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent, 
' were all present. Whatever may have been the ori- 
ginal form or character of the serpent, which there is 
reason, from the very words of the curse pronounced 
on it, to believe was different from what it is now, one 
thing is certain, that it was but the innocent visible 
instrument, employed and actuated by an invisible 
and malignant spirit for the seduction of the “ Mother 
of us all.’ 

One design of the pronunciation of the curse was, 
to teach our first parents the existence and presence 
of a malignant, invisible being,* hostile to their hap- 
piness ; and also that, notwithstanding his temporary 
triumph over them, he should nevertheless be over- 
come, and there be escape for men from under his do- 


* See Hengstenburg’s Christology, v. i. p. 26 41. 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 139 


minion. God can change at will, without violating any 
moral obligation or impeaching his benevolence, the 
form and functions of any mere animal devoid of a 
rational soul; especially should this be done for the 
purpose of illustrating or giving a lively exhibition of 
important moral truth. Presuming, as we may justly, 
that the serpent instantly, on the pronouncing of the 
eurse, changed its form, and, falling prostrate on the 
earth, began to creep abjectly and disgustingly on its 
belly, there could not have been given to our first pa- 
rents a more significant illustration, and pledge of the 
ultimate fulfilment of the prediction, that “the seed of 
the woman should bruise the serpent’s head.” And if, 
as is most likely, the special dislike of mankind to 
the serpent, where the light of revelation is had, was 
the result of these historical recollections, we have, 
in these very feelings, a perpetuated proof of God’s 
veracity and faithfulness in the fulfilment of his pro- 
mise, to destroy the dominion of Satan, and to. estab- 
lish a lasting enmity between him and the seed of the 
woman. While the whole was veritable matter of his- 
tory, obvious to the eye, it became a very appropriate 
and significant type of other things, as literally and 
truly to occur. Such typical actions were afterwards 
very common—examples of which we have in the sig- 
nificant or typical actions of the prophets Ezekiel, 
Jeremiah, Hosea, Isaiah, and others: such as the car- 
rying out of the household stuff ;* the portraying of 
Jerusalem on a tilef and laying siege to it; the bury- 
ing of a linen girdle ;{ the lying on the side so many 
days;§ the marring of the vessel on the potter’s wheel ;|| 
the breaking of the potter’s vessel :Ἵ the marriage of 


* Ezek. 12. 1-11. } Ezek. 4. 1-3. t Jer. 13. 1-15. 
§ Ezek. 4. 4-6. || Jer. 18. 1-10. a Jer. 19, 1-15. 


140 - THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


whoredoms, and birth and names et the prophets’ « chil- 
dren.* 

- Whatever may be the truth and force of these re- 
marks, as to the typical actions of God when he first 
pronounced the curse, it is certain, that very soon 
after the fall of our first parents, God ordained the 
rite of sacrifice, which afterwards was adopted into 
the Levitical ritual, and was, as we learn, from the be- 
ginning, a type of the sacrifice of the woman’s seed— 
the atonement of Jesus Christ for the ieee με 
the world.} 

The passover, a rite divinely instituted to com- 
memorate the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, was 
also a type of redemption from sin, and death, and 
hell, by the sacrifice of Christ, our passover or pas- 
chal lamb without spot and blemish, who was offered 
for us.~| We need not notice further examples. Suf- 
fice it to say, that the priesthood of Melchizedek and 
of Aaron the high priest, and the essential ordinances 
of the Mosaic ritual, were all divinely appointed types 
or foreshadowing resemblances and copies of the great 
original, Jesus Christ. For it was not only actions 
that were made typical, but also persons. Thus, 
Isaac offered for sacrifice by his father Abraham, Israel 
collectively called and delivered out of Egypt, Moses 
as a prophet and mediator, David as a conqueror, and 
Solomon as a peaceful and glorious king, and others, 
‘were employed by God, and in his providence placed 
in circumstances, to foreshadow or represent some at- 
tributes and features in the character and work of 
Jesus Christ. The one was the type of the other, but 
both were equally veritable persons, and real actors in 


*'Hos. 1,:2. 9» 
¢ See Delancy’s Revelation Examined, v. i. Diss. 8. 
t Warburton’s Divine Legation, v. ii. p. 499. 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 141 


scenes and events bearing a strong and striking re- 
semblance. ‘ 

It is of very great importance to attend to this prin- 
ciple in the interpretation of the book of Psalms. The 
typical character of David, known and understood by 
himself to be a type of Christ, and the typical charac- 
ter of many of the great events in his history, are the 
only true clue to his meaning in many of the Psalms. 
Primarily he may have had his eye on the events and 
circumstances of his own life; but it is only as he 
saw and understood them to be typical, and illustra- 
tive of something correspondent in the character and 
history of the Messiah, towards whom his hopes and 
aspirations were directed, that they excited the deep 
interest of his heart. ‘The Spirit thus gave him typi- 
cal revelations, and through him the church. For thus 
were they understood and quoted by Christ and his apos- 
tles. So too did the ancient rabbinical writers among 
the Jews understand the Psalms. The 22d and 69th 
psalms are a striking description of the sufferings of the 
Messiah ; the 2d, 21st, 45th, 68th, 72d, 89th and 110th, 
of the triumph of the Messiah; the 16th, 35th, 40th, 
102d, and others, of his’ humiliation and exaltation, 
actually so understood and quoted in the New Testa- 
ment. . So frequent: and indeed continual are the 
references in the Psalms to the Messiah, upon the 
principle just stated, as to justify the position taken 
by the Rev. John Fry,* Rector of Desford, Leicester- 
shire, and formerly of the University College, Oxford, 
that Christ andthe events of his first or his second 
advent are the perpetual theme from one end to the 
other of this sacred book. This fact affords an abun- 
dantly satisfactory solution of what in that book ap- 
pears to be inconsistent with a Christian spirit, and 

* See his New Translation and Exposition of the Psalms, 


13 


142 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


has ἐρᾷ some to denominate particular parts of it curs- 
ing psalms—such as the 109th, &c. They are but de- 
nunciations and predictions of divine vengeance on 
the enemies of Christ, and might have been just as 
_ correctly translated in the future tense as in the im- 
perative mode. 

This typical character of some predictions not be- 
ing duly considered, has led some to great mistakes 
about what has been called the secondary or double 
sense. It is undoubtedly the fact, that sometimes pre- 
dictions have been delivered in terms which describe 
a near and literal fultilment, and yet look forward to a 
more remote and senléieniio fulfilment. Hence some 
have contended, as they thought unanswerably, in favor 
of the sleneniralas spiritual interpretation, as though 
there is always an occult sense behind the literal ex- 
pressions. Buta closer attention to this subject will 
show that the argument is fallacious. 

One or two examples, and the statement of the ob- 
vious principle of interpretation in relation to them, 
will set this matter in a plain and intelligible light. 
Joel, in his first and second chapters, predicted ap- 
proaching ravages of the land of Israel by the palmer-. 
worm, the locust, the canker-worm, and the cater- 
pillar. Afterwards he predicts the invasion of the 
country by a mighty “nation,” whose strength and 
numbers and ravages, he describes, by language sug- 
gested from the desolating character, numbers, pro- 
gress, and effects of an army of locusts. These two 
events are so blended together in that description, as 
to make it evident, that the first desolation: by the lo- 
custs was regarded by the prophet as a type of the more 
terrible desolation to follow by the Assyrian army. 
A careful attention to the language of the prophet, 
shows evidently that he had the two literal events in 
view, and, in filling up his description taken from the - 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 143 


- type, i. 6. the locust ravages, uses terms applicable 
and evidently pointing to the antetype, i. e. the Assy- 
rian invasion.* ; Ἷ 

Of like character are other typical predictions, of 
which we notice that of the destruction of Babylon, 
given in the 13th and 14th chapters of Isaiah. The 
description is most graphic, so far as the literal Baby- 
lon is concerned, and all has been verified to the very 
letter ; but both at the commencement (ch. 12. 6-16) 
and at the close (ch. 13. 24-27), the language directs 
us to a far more terrible and extensive desolation of 

the kingdoms of this world than took place at the 
overthrow of ancient Babylon by the Medes. 

Other prophets and Christ himself adopted the very 
words of Isaiah, and especially the apostle John, when 
they predicted the great convulsions, revolutions, 
and overthrow of nations, which should take place 
at the destruction of the Roman power, whose capitol 
has been metaphorically denominated “ great Baby- 
lon”—the first literal Babylon being the type of the 
last, and the destruction of the first being the type and 
kage of the destruction of the last. 

The same thing 1 is also true in relation to the pre- 
dictions concerning Edom, and Moab, and other wick- 
ed nations, whose destruction was atailiéted by the 
prophets as events not very remote from their day, 
but which events were spoken of as types and proofs 
or pledges of the fulfilment of predictions looking to 
a much more remote period and to future powers to 
arise in the world, not having, as yet, in the days of 


* Joel, 1.2. Warburton did not discern the peculiar force of 
Joel’s expressions, (1. 6, compared with 1. 4,) and has supposed 
the whole to be allegorical, without any private hint, as in v. 6, 
that Joel referred to two literal events—the locust and Assyrian 
devastation—the one a type of the other,—Divine Legation, v 
ii. 499, 


144 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


the prophet, even been organized or received a name, 
and which therefore were named, metaphorically, de- 
scriptively, or typically, from nations then known, 
whose character and destruction those of the more - 
distant nations, yet to be developed in the political 
world, should resemble. 

The principle on which all such predictions are to 
be understood, and which predictions have led to much 
confusion about “the double sense,” is a very simple 
and intelligible one. The prophets looked down the 
long vista of the world’s and church’s history, to the 
day and hour of the Messiah’s ultimate and glorious 
triumph, and of the establishment of his kingdom on the 
earth. When the church was in distress, and ¢alami- 
ties threatening her from the invasion of hostile 
nations, they delivered, under the direction of God, 
predictions for her comfort and hope. These brought 
distinctly into view, the final hour of glory and 
triumph, as the true reason and ground of hope for 
deliverance and redemption from any intervening 
seasons of distress and peril, of disaster and apparent 
desolation. In disclosing these sources of hope, the 
prophets sometimes began their predictions with a 
reference to the greatest and final deliverance, and 
then prophesied, in relation to the calamities or de- 
liverances nearer hand, from which again they glanced 
to the last, and which precedent events themselves 
they described as types and pledges of its glorious 
accomplishment. Sometimes the prophets, in ad- 
ministering consolation, would predict and describe 
the last coming of the Messiah, and glance from it to 
the second, viewing both as reasons for the events 
which should occur nearer at hand, and which, when 
verified, would be types and pledges of still greater. 
Sometimes, too, even symbolical language, such as 
the sun being darkened, the moon being apparently 


SYMBOLICAL LANGUAGE. 145 


turned into blood, and the stars falling from Heaven, 
would receive a literal verification in the extraordinary 
celestial and atmospheric phenomena which should 
occur before, or simultaneously with the events pre- 
dicted by the symbols, and be, as it were, God’s 
sensible exhibition of the symbol or type itself, as was 
remarkably the case towards the destruction οἵ 
Jerusalem ; and indeed has been, at different periods 
since in the world’s history, so as to have swayed 
men into the superstitious notion, that frequent extra- 
ordinary eclipses of the sun and moon, the appearance 
of comets, unwonted brilliancy and forms of the 
Aurora Borealis, the decadence of meteoric vapors, 
and explosion of meteoric bodies, which astronomers 
and natural philosophers know not how to account for, 
are sure signs and omens of wars and calamities about 
to come upon the nations of the earth.* 

_. The nature and use of types and of typical language 
as employed by the prophets, enable us easily and 
satisfactorily to understand all these things, so that, 
_ while we are delivered from all superstitious fears, we 
may know exactly, what use to make of, and what 
lessons to learn from, the prophetical writings. 

Two things are obvious from the prophets’ use of 
types—the first. is, that while types are not to be 
rejected utterly, they are not to be multiplied at the will 
of the interpreter. We must look carefully through 
the whole compass of the prophet’s view, study well 
the import of his words, and only admit typical events, 
where the prophets themselves meant that the events 
should be so regarded. It willnot do for us to assume 
‘it as a universal principle, which we may apply ac- 
cording to our own whims and conceits, and on the 


* See N. Webster’s History of PlaSues, Comets, &c. 
1: 


) 1 
146 THE SYSTEM OF INTERPRETATION. 


foundation of which we shall claim, as some have done,* 
that because Edom, Moab, Babylon, the Assyrian, 
are unquestionably used as metaphorical descriptions 
or types of wicked nations, not yet arisen, nor known 
by name in the world in the days of the prophets, 
therefore such words are to be generalized or 
spiritualized in their import, as denoting compre- 
hensively and only, wicked men in general. 

In this, we conceive, consists one of the fundamental 
mistakes of Mr. Miller, and of those who, with him, 
confidently assert the coming of Christ in the year 
1843. Although he and his school differ greatly in 
their result from the great body of the spiritualists in 
this country, yet do they practically hold the same 
principles of spiritual interpretation in common, with 
this leading exception, that Mr. Miller affirms the 
visible coming of Christ to be before the Millenium. 
In this respect he agrees with the millenarians or 
literalists, but this is almost the only one. In all 
other particulars he is with the spiritualists, and his 
whole system is but the legitimate application and 
carrying out of their principles of interpretation to the 
prophecies.t He has infinitely more in common with 


* Jones’ Spiritual Interpretation. 

+ By spiritualists here, we mean those in pended who make the 
kingdom of Christ altogether an allegorical thing, denying ‘his 
visible appearance and personal administration in it, and maintain- 
ing, that it and the Millenium consist, mainly, in the dominion of 
abstract truth or evangelic doctrine, swaying the minds of men, 
and thus the nations of the earth. Some who hold these views have 
advanced and reasoned conclusively and happily, in reference to 
the true principles of interpretation, opposing successfully the alle- 
gorical system of Origen ; and the occult or double sense.of pro- 
phecy. But they have very often practically departed from their 
own principles, and by their exegesis in particular cases, violated 
their own rules.—See some excellent remarks in Professor Stuart’s 
Hints on the Int. of Proph. p. 11-47. 


SYMBOLICAL- LANGUAGE. 147 


them than the literalists; though he is by far more 
injuriously and slanderously treated, and frequently 
styled a fanatic and madman, by certain spiritualists 
with whom he holds so much in common, than by the 
literalists, who can agree with him in so very little. 

The other thing that ‘obviously results from the 
prophets’ use of types and typical language, is the 
literality of the results predicted in both cases, as 
fully and as certainly in those most remote, as in 
those near at hand, which were their types and pledge. 
The brazen serpent, for example, was a literal carnal 
ordinance, but the type of Christ upon the cross as 
the means of healing, just as literally and truly lifted 
up from the earth. The locusts were literally an army 
of devastation, but the type of the Assyrian army, 
which, too, was as literal a verity as the locusts them- 
selves. So, too, the ancient Assyrian and his destruc- 
tion, Moab, Edom, and the ancient Babylon and their 
destruction, were literal types of Rome and of its 
veritable destruction, as the last political power and 
empire that should arise in the world, and be destroyed 
by the coming of Christ ; and therefore, on the prin- 
ciples of literal interpretation, we look for something 
more than the meliorating influence of Christianity, 
the reformation of popery, and the evangelization and 
civilisation or conversion of the world, even the 
violent and terrible destruction of the city of Rome, 
of the whole ecclesiastico-political system of popery, 
and of all the anti-Christian nations and powers which 
form the constituent parts of the last universal Roman 
empire. 

* 


CHAPTER VI. 


A GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL 
SYSTEM OF INTERPRETING THE PROPHECIES. 


THE importance, in the study of the prophecies, of 
having correct principles of interpretation, has in- 
duced us to pursue the subject more extensively than 
we had at first designed. Having affirmed them to be 
the same substantially with those we apply to all ordi- 
nary works, written in the same characters of style ; 
having at some length unfolded the varieties of pro- 
phetical style, comprising, in general, the Alphabetical, 
the Tropical, the Symbolical, and the Typical; hav- 
ing, as we think, proved the literal system of interpre- 
tation in contradistinction from the spiritual or allego- 
rical to be the true ;—and having endeavored to guard 
against the more common mistakes and misapprehen- 
sions growing out of ignorance, as to what the literal 
system is, we deem it proper, before applying these 
principles of interpretation, to the predictions concern- 
Ing THE COMING AND KINGDOM oF JEsus Curist, to lay 
before the reader a general outline of the two systems 
as applied to these subjects, and brought out in their 
general results, and after having done so, to TRACE 
THEIR HIsToRY, so far as traditionary records may 


throw any light upon thema 
We do not, it is true, hold to tradition as deci- 


sive authority ; nor do we admit it, for one moment, 
to be either a source of original information, of equal 


GENERAL OUTLINE, ETC. 149 


value with the written Scriptures, or the only infalli- 
ble interpreter: but we nevertheless affirm that as 
history, it is of great use in determining how primi- 
tive Christians, either in the apostolic days, or imme- 
diately after, understood the language of the inspired 
writers. We value the writings of the fathers, and of 
the ancient Jewish Rabbis, as exponents of the views 
entertained in the church, both before, and immediately 
after the coming of Christ. When those views coin- 
cide with the written Scriptures, as grammatically ἴῃς 
terpreted, we feel bound to treat them with respect. 
-Retracing the stream of traditionary history on this 
subject, we admit that much will be found deserving 
of no respect whatever, being the opinions, the specu- 
lations, and thé additions of different individuals and 
ages. Because certain heretics, as Cerinthus and oth- 
ers, who, according to Eusebius’ account of this here- 
siarch, adopted some of the leading features of the 
millenarian views, and gave them altogether a sensual 
dress,* until they were incorporated into tHe belief of 
the eastern nations, who adopted the religion of Ma- 
homet, and indulged the expectation of a sensual Hea- 
ven, is no more reason why the whole of their views, 
and the system of literal interpretation, should be re- 
jected, than the anti-millenarian, or spiritualist, would 
feel it to be a good and valid reason for rejecting his 
views, and the spiritual system of interpretation, because 
some of his notions about the coming of Christ, and 
the nature of the kingdom of Heaven, together with 
his system of spiritual interpretation, have led to the 
despotism and splendid extravagance of Papal and 
other hierarchies ;—to the reveries and mysticism, and 
unintelligible allegories of the Hon. Emanuel Sweden- 


* Eusebii Pamphili Ecclesiasticee Historie, lib. iii. cap. 28. 


150 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE 


borg and his followers, or to the generalization and 
philosophical expositions of the Neologists of Ger- | 
many, and of the Unitarians of Great Britain and the 
United States, who boldly, but falsely, and as we think, 
blasphemously speak, of “the contradictions of the old 
Testament, its legends, so beautiful as fictions, so ap- 
palling as facts, its predictions that have never been 
fulfilled, its puerile conceptions of God, and the 
cruel denunciations that ein both Psalm and Pre: 
phecy.”* 

Our object is; not to give the history of either 
system in its details ; nor to contrast them mi- 
nutely ; but merely to present the general outlines of 
both, as they take their form from the leading and es- 
sential ideas on which they are respectively founded. 

_ Both admit the fact of the second coming of Jesus 
Christ, suddenly, visibly, and gloriously, for the pur- 
pose of raising the dead bodies of his saints, quicken- 
ing the living, judging the world, and establishing for 
ever the glorious dominion. or ἜΡΡΎΘΝ of Heaven. 
They, therefore, both believe and teach these five 
great general facts, viz. the visible appearance of Je- 
sus Christ—the resurrection of the bodies of the dead 
—a day of universal judgment—a Millenium, and a 
kingdom of glory inconceivable and eternal. They 
differ greatly, however, as to the import of these facts, 
and the time, order, and manner of their occurrence. 

The spiritualist objects to any attention being given 
to chronological prophecy, affirming that it is design- 
edly kept secret, and therefore almost impious to at- 
tempt to determine when Jesus Christ shall come 
again to this world, partly, because he says it is not 
revealed, and partly, because he takes it for granted, 


* Th. Parker’s Discourse, p. 31. 


LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 151 


that it is not to be expected, at all events, till some 
time after the Millenium, He pleads that the Saviour, 
after his resurrection, rebuked the disciples for pry- 
ing into this matter, observing that it was not for them 
“to know the times and the seasons, which the Fa- 
ther hath put in his own power,”* and had previously 
and explicitly declared “of that day and of that hour 
knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in Hea- 
ven, neither the Son, but the Father.” 

It is worthy of remark, that since the time these 
things were said by the Saviour, the counsels and plans 
of the Father have been further revealed, and that 
since the return of the Saviour to the Father, He has 
given very copious comments on former predictions, 
and added greatly to the field of prophecy by the re- 
velations which he has made through the Spirit, by 
the apostles, and especially by John, who carries us 
down to the very time of the end. We do not, indeed, 
plead for any attempts to fix certainly the date of the 
Saviour’s second coming, and the epoch of the resur- 
rection of the saints, and of the introduction of His 
glorious kingdom: but this we affirm, that it will not 
do, aS it is very often done, to plead the remarks made 
by the Saviour, which were literally true up to the date 
when they were made, and appeal to them as authori- 
tative and absolute, in reference to a later period, in 
the discharge of the duties confided to him by the Fa- 
ther, and when, from the fact of extended revelations 
having been subsequently made, and chronological 
prophecies too, delivered, it is evident that the Father 
has subsequently made known to the Son, officiating 
as the Mediator, more of his counsels and plans. Still 
we do not mean to say, that the precise day and hour 


* Acta, 1. ἢ, t Mat. 24. 36. 


152 GENERAL OUTLINE: br THE. 


can be known; nevertheless, every one can see, that 
while zhese may be unknown, nevertheless the general 
season, or period of the world’s history, if not the 
year, may be known, and there be no real contradic- 
tion between these things. Even should we be able 
to come within a century of the truth here, we come 
sufficiently near for all practical purposes of warning, 
preparation, and watchfulness to the church and to the 
world. ; : 

‘That this may be done, will be obvious to all, who 
will look so far into the prophecies, as to see, that 
there is.a definite order in the succession of certain 
great epochs, connected with the introduction and. es- 
tablishment of Christ’s kingdom. For example, as the 
personal coming of Christ, the resurrection of the 
saints, the judgment, the Millenium, and the eternal 
kingdom, are all admitted, by both the literalist and 
spiritualist, it becomes a very appropriate. inquiry, in 
what order will these great events occur? Does pro- 
phecy say anything on the subject? or give us any 
hints, whether the Millenium is to precede the second 
coming of Christ, or the second coming precede it? 
Is the judgment, a mere judging or trial of all mankind, 
simultaneously collected, and speedily despatched 2 
or is it a new and wonderful, and glorious dispensa- 
tion, having its distinct epochs, at its commencement 
and -its close, and calling into exercise other than 
Judiciary powers, even the Legislative and Executive, 
and all that pertains to the work of government, which 
is the sense of the word to judge, as often used in the 
Sacred Scriptures ?* Is there to be any difference, 


* The work of a JuDGE, as given in the Sacred Scriptures, is to 
rule or govern, to deliver and protect his people—t6 execute the 
laws, and to avenge or punish enemies or transgressors. Such were 
Gideon, Sampson, Jephtha, Samuel, and others. When Christ is pre- 


LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 153 


‘th point of time, between the resurrection of the 
Tighteous and the wicked, and if so, what are the ae- 
companiments, and peculiarities, of each of these great 
events t In what specifically does the kingdom of Hea- 
ven consist? By what means, and agencies, is it 
conducted and administered t and what are its dis- 
tinetive features 1 

Thése, and similar inquiries, which every one must 
see may be started, are not to be met and answered by 
any preconceived notions had as to the nature of the 
coming of Christ, of the kingdom of Heaven, or of 
the Millenium. We must do here, as did the ancient 
prophets, viz. search “ what, or what manner of time 
the Spirit which was in them did signify when it tes- 
tified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glory 
that should follow.”* 

It is obvious, that there is room for difference, as to 
the general import of these facts, their mutual rela- 
tions, and the order of their succession. To the 
word of God alone, must the appeal be made—as all 
admit. The spiritualist explains the general import 
of the facts in one way, and the literalist in another. 
Each states their mutdal relation, and the order of 
their succession, differently. 

The spiritualist believes that the Millenium is nothing 
more than a highly-prosperous state of the church, 
which shall be introduced through the gradual diffusion 
of light and knowledge, by means of missionaries, 
bibles, tracts, and othet instramentalities employed 
for that purpose ; that during this illustrious period, 
Satan will be restrained from the practice of his 


dicted as Judze, it is often as exercising princely and governmental 
rule. Psalm, 9.7,8; 10. 14-18; 67. 4; 72. 1-4, 7,85; 96. 135 98.9; 
99.4; Isaiah, 2.4; Mic. 4.3; Jer. 23. 5. 

ὃ 1 Peter, 1. 11. 


14 


154 GENERAL OUTLINE lor tHE. Ἂ 


deceitful and corrupting arts, and his influence almost, 
if not entirely, suppressed ;—that the Jews in their 
dispersion, and the Gentile heathen nations throughout 
the whole world, shall be converted;—the church 
enjoy an increased and astonishing influence of the 
Spirit of God, of like character with that’ which he 
exerts in extensive and powerful revivals of pure 
religion, and in this way realize all the glowing and 
glorious anticipations of the Old Testament prophets; 
—that the principles of the gospel becoming uniyer- 
sally prevalent, all wars will cease ;—that the nations 
of the earth becoming a vast confederated family for 
the preservation of peace, and for the promotion of 
human happiness, shall no longer cultivate the warlike 
_arts—civilisation be carried to the highest piteh, the 
blessings of civil, political, and religious liberty 
universally be enjoyed—all forms of oppression cease, 
-——the rulers of this world becoming righteous and 
religious, rule in the fear and love of God—and the 
entire population of the globe, increased and enriched 
by industry, frugality, virtue, and piety, present an 
Eden-like scene of prosperity, and glory, and blessed- 
ness ;—that at the end of a thousand years, or of this 
Halcyon period, the spirit of piety, which, like that of 
the martyrs of Jesus, had prevailed in the world, will 
begin to decline,—the great adversary who had been 
imprisoned, be let loose again, and gain an influence 
over the nations so as to deceive them, and to producea 
general defection from the millenial purity and truth; 
—that the apostate nations, under the denomination of 
Gog and Magog, shall conspire together, and commence 
hostile movements for the destruction of “the camp 
of the saints and the beloved city,” and bring about a 
general and dreadful corruption of morals and of 
religion in the world ;—that then, but not till then, the 


ἊΝ 


LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 155 


Lord shall suddenly rain down fire from Heaven and 
destroy them all ;—that immediately thereafter, the 
second personal visible coming of Jesus Christ shall 
take place, and the resurrection of the dead, the final 
judgment, and the dissolution by fire of this entire 
globe ensue;—and that then, but not till then, will 
the new Heavens and the new earth be created, and 
that glorious heavenly kingdom be established, whieh 
is to be the inheritance of the saints for ever. 
Among those who in the main adopt the spiritual 
system of interpretation, many are to be found differ- 
ing as to the extent to which its principles are to be 
applied, and who therefore shape their theory of the 
prophecies, in some respects, different from the above | 
outline, and from each other. Thus, there are some 
who fraid it impossible to believe that all the predic- 
tions about the return of the Jews and restoration to 
their own land, and the recovery of the ten lost tribes, 
with their reunion unto and re-establishment with the 
two tribes again, as one nation in Palestine, in more 
than the pristine glories of the theocracy, are mere 
allegorical descriptions of their conversion, and ab- 
sorption into the church, in the lands of their disper- 
sion. They therefore dissent from the above view in 
this particular, and look for the national and political 
restoration and re-establishment of the twelve tribes 
in the Jand of Palestine, as well as their conversion to 
Christianity. Of this class is Mr. Faber, and others, 
who, although they defer the visible coming of Christ 
till after the Millenium, and spiritually interpret what 
is said in relation to that glorious epoch, nevertheless, 
‘cannot apply their own principles to the prophecies 
concerning the Jews. Not a few, however, in these 
United States, feel the obligation that consistency 
imposes on them, to allegorize the prophecies about 


156, GENERAL OUTLINE be THE 


the Jews, as well as about the Millenium and the king- 
dom of heaven. 7 

Others again, believing in the literal restoration of 
the Jews, are not prepared to admit that the Millenium 
will be ushered in by the gradual increase of mission- 
ary labors and success, and the multiplication of re- 
vivals of religion. They look,—for a fearful crisis in 
the affairs of the world,—a time of trouble, grow- 
ing out of the conflict between truth and error, be- 
tween tyranny and liberty,—for terrible judgments from 
heaven on the guilty nations of the earth, especially 
the anti-Christian,—for some sudden, signal, marked, 
and astonishing interpositions of divine Providence, 
which will, in a surprising manner, prepare the. way, 
for the rapid spread of the gospel. The national con: 
version of the Jews, they believe, will have a power- 
ful influence, and throw out, in all parts of the earth, 
‘innumerable teachers of religion, ministers, and am- 
bassadors of Christ, acquainted with the languages of 
the people among whom they dwell, and fitted to preach 
‘the gospel with powerful success, so that their conver- 
sion, scattered as they now are through the earth, will, 
like the match applied to trains of powder, now laid 
by. Missionary, and Bible, and  ταςὶ societies all over 
the earth, suddenly fill the world with the full blaze of 
“the knowledge of ihe glory. of the Lord, as the 
waters cover the sea.” This event they designate as 
the metaphorical “ coming ‘of Christ,” and as *“ the 
brightness of his appearing.” 

How far the spiritual interpreters, Sastre go in 
their explanations, it is not easy to say. Some have 
carried out the system still further, and allegorized 
all the existing churches into Antichrist, and the king- 
dom of heaven into the pure and perfect ones, who 
have advanced farthest in piety; while others, have 


LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 157 


actually proclaimed the’ New Jerusalem already to 
have descended from heaven, and to be found, either 
among the followers of the Hon. Emanuel Sweden- 
borg, or some other self-applauding sect. 

Others still have made war against all organiza- 
tions, and all government—even the marriage rélation 
and family ties,—and announced the Millenium to have 
already dawned, and to be destined speedily to per- 
vade the earth, in the universal prevalence of the prin- 
ciples which they advocate, viz. unrestricted liberty, 
equality of property, and community of wives. 

Others still, more speciously infidel in their allego- 
68, have predicted the golden age, when the tran- 
sient in Christianity shall have been fully separated 
from the permanent—when religion shall bring the 
world to adopt “the only creed it lays down, the 
great truth which springs up spontaneous in every 
heart—there is a God; the only form it will demand 
will be a divine life, doing the best thing in the best 
way, from the highest motives, perfect obedience to 
the great law of God, its sanctions be the voice of 
God in the heart, thesperpetual presence of Him who 
made us, and the stars over our head, Christ and the 
Father abiding in us,”* bringing all of the Godhead 
which flesh can receive, and leading man to worship 
the divine Being without any mediator, or anything 
whatever, between God and the mind. Others still, 
modify their views differently, as the Shaking Quakers, 
some Universalists, and other heretical sects, the vari- 
eties of whose opinions it is not necessary to detail. 

Mr. Miller and his followers, who believe in the 
~personal coming of Jesus Christ and the great day of 
judgment and general conflagration in the year 1843, 


* Th. Parker’s Discourse. 
14" ; 


158 GENERAL OUTLINE ok, THE 


are the. most ultra spiritualists of shes day. They, 
have calculated, as they think, from chronological 
prophecy, the time of Christ’s coming to be pre-mil- 
lenial, and fixed its very date; and: seeing no other 
way to get rid of those. mec oe which speak of the 
restoration of the Jews, the battles of Gog and Magog, 
the destruction of Antichrist, the Millenium, &c., 
which, by the post-millenial. spiritualists are believed 
to precede and to prepare the way for the coming of 
Christ and day of judgment, they allegorize the whole, 
and say they will have their. accomplishment. in. the 
resurrection of the dead, the renovation of the globe, 
and the eternal state of things to be introduced, i imme- 
diately at Christ’s coming. 

However discordant in their views as to the results 
are all these different commentators on prophecy, yet 
do they more or less adopt the system of spiritual in, 
terpretation. The diverseness and contrariety of these 
results, we think, afford ground for valid objection 
against the system. It is a system which has no 
standard, which gives an unbridled rein to men’s.ima; 
ginations, and which has. engendered some of the 
most pestiferous heresies and tidienloas and fanatical 
sects that have disgraced the Christian name. 

But, lest we may be suspected of not, dealing fairly 
in, the statement.of views, so diverse and difficult to be 
determined, existing mostly in vague. and ill-defined 
notions and speculations, most frequently found in 
speeches and addresses before missionary and other 
societies, and seldom well arranged and digested, we, 
present the following extract, as furnishing the more 
general opinions of the spiritualists on the subject, 
After affirming that the church will arrive at a state 
of unprecedented prosperity, which will last a thou- 
sand years, the writer conjectures that the world will 


LITERAL AND. SPIRITUAL SYSTE 


be so filled with real Christians, and be ke , oon by? 
constant propagation, to supply the place of thesé 
᾿ die, that there will. be many thousands born andliye~ 
on the earth, to each man, and woman who has lived. 
the six thousand previous years; so that if most of 
them, as is probable, be saved, there will, on the, whole, 
be many thousands of mankind saved, to one that. shall 
be lost. 

This state, continues the writer, will be one of great 
happiness and glory. Nothing more is meant, by the: 
predictions of Christ’s coming with, his saints and 
reigning on the earth, than that, before the general 
judgment, the Jews shall be converted, genuine Chris- 
tianity be diffused through all nations, and Christ shall 
reign by his.spiritual presence in a glorious manner, 
It will, however, be a time of eminent holiness, clear. 
light and knowledge, love, peace and friendship, and 
agreement in doctrine and worship. Human life, per- 
haps, will rarely be endangered by the poisons of the 
mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. Beasts of: 
prey will perhaps be extirpated or tamed by the power. 
of man. The inhabitants of every. place will rest 
secure from fear.of robbery and murder. War shall. 
be entirely ended; capital crimes and punishments. 
be heard of no more ; and governments placed on fair, 
just, and humane foundations. The torch of civil dis. 
cord will be extinguished. Perhaps Pagans, ‘l'urks, 
Deists, and Jews, will be as few in number as Chris- 
tians are now. Kings, nobles, magistrates, and rulers 
in. churches, shall act with principle, and be forward, 
to promote the best interests of men. Tyranny, op- 
pression, persecution, bigotry, and cruelty, shall cease. 
Business shall be attended to without contention, dis- 
honesty, and covetousness. ‘Trades and manufac- 
tures will be carried on with a design to promote the 


160 εὐ GENERAL OUTLINE οἱ 188 


general good of mankind, and not with selfish inte- 

rests, as now. Merehaudize between distant” coun-° 
tries will be conducted without fear of an enemy; and 
works of ornament and beauty, perhaps, shall not be 
wanting in those days. Learning, which has always 
flourished in proportion as religion has spread, shall 
then greatly increase, and be employed for the best of 
purposes; astronomy, geography, natural history, 
metaphysics, and all the useful sciences, be better un- 
derstood, and consecrated to the service of God. And 
“T cannot help thinking,” adds the author, “ that by’ 
the improvements which have been made and are 
making in ship-building, navigation, electricity, medi- 
cine, &c., that ‘the tempest will lose half its force, 
the lightning lose half its terrors, and the human frame 
be not near so much exposed to danger.’ Above all, 

the Bible will be more highly appreciated, its armbng 
perceived, its superiority owned, and its energy felt, 
by millions of human beings. In fact, the earth shall 
be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters 
cover the sea.” 

‘¢ The time when this Millenium will commence,” 
says the author, “ cannot be fully ascertained, but the 
common idea is, that it will be in the seven thou- 
sandth year of the world. It will most probably come 
on by degrees, and be, in a manner, introduced before 
that time. And who knows but the present convual- 
sions among different nations; the overthrow which 
popery has had in places where it has been so domi- 
nant for hundreds of years ;* the fulfilment of pro- 
phecy respecting infidels, and the falling away of many 
in the last times; and yet, in the midst of all, the 
number of missionaries sent into different parts of the 


* The author wrote more than thirty years ago, but events are. 
falsifying his anticipations. 


LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL, S¥STEMS. 161: 


worid, together with the increase, of gospel ministers, 
the thousands of ignorant children that have been 
taught to read the Bible, and the vast number of differ- 
ent societies that have been lately instituted for the 
benevolent purpose of informing the minds and. im- 
_ proving the hearts of the ignorant ; who knows, I say, 
but what these things are the forerunners of events of 
the most delightful nature, and which may usher im 
the happy morn of that bright and glorious day, whea, 
the whole world shall be filled with his glory, and, all 
the ends of the earth see the salvation of God.”* These 
are the prevailing views. _ 

We have exhibited them in the language of the au 
thor, because they are the more current, by, reason of 
being found in a very popular work, extensively cix- 
culated, and doubtless. contributing, no little, to mould 
the prevalent opinions on the. subject of the prophe- 
cies, as interpreted. by the spiritualists. 

The literalists differ greatly in their views from. 
them, and what is remarkable, they. mostly agree 
among themselves in the general outline and results, 
It is true, they sometimes differ as. to. minor and sub; 
ordinate prophecies not yet fulfilled, but not as to the. 
general system, in its bold and radical; features. The 
Millenium is regarded by them, not as the expansion 
and universal diffusion of the gospel, in a season, of 
unprecedented religious prosperity—not as the con; 
summation of the present evangelical dispensation, but 
as a new dispensation, to be miraculously introduced, 
as all the former dispensations were, and to, possess, 
its own distinct and peculiar attributes. The gospel 
dispensation, which commenced with the ministry, of 
Christ, and was fully introduced on the day of Pente 


* See Buck’s Theological Dictionary, art. Millenium. 


. | i l 
162 GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE | 


cost, they believe—as Christ and the apostles styled 
it—is the dispensation of the good news of the kingdom — 
of Heaven drawing nigh, but the Millenium, the king- — 
dom itself, commenced with the awful retributions of 
Divine justice on the enemies of Christ—the one, the 
proclamation or heralding of the kingdom coming, and 
the other, the kingdom come, introduced by terrible 
displays of divine vengeance, and established and per- 
-petuated by the exercise of all the high functions of 
executive, legislative, and judicial sway, entitling it to 
the denomination of rae Day or Jupemenr. 

This kingdom, they aflirm, is not the Church of 
God, as she now exists in her visible organizations, 
and in which Christians, or the saints, are the su)jects, 
yielding obedience to the commands of Jesus Christ; 
but it is a new and glorious development of Almighty 
power, and’ grace, and justice, in which the saints of 
all ages, that have died in the faith, and been with 
Christ, shall return with him to the earth, and 
receive their bodies raised from the dead, and made 
like to his most glorious body ; when those that love 
the Lord and his appearing, alive on the earth at 
the period of his coming, shall undergo an instanta- 
neous change in their mortal bodies, assimilating 
them to the saints of the resurrection, and shall all be 
employed by Jesus Christ as his kings and priests, his 
subordinate agents and officers, to administer under 
him the government to be then established over the 
nations that shall yet remain in the flesh. “The saints 
in the millenial state are to reign with Christ—to be 
the rulers and not the ru/ed—having been schooled in 
affliction, persecuted, tried, and many of them put to 
death for the testimony of Jesus, and no longer self- 
ish, ambitious, covetous, and vindictive, like most 
rulers of this world, become fit and safe depositaries 


LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. _ 163 


of power for the government of the nations of the 
earth. é : 

Such is the general idea of those who adopt the 
‘literal interpretation. As to the nature, order, and 
succession of events, preparatory and designed to 
usher in and to establish this kingdom, there are, as has 
been hinted, some differences ; but the following are 
among the points, or facts lelieved by diflerent writ- 
ers* who have pursued their investigations farthest, 
to be taught in prophecy, viz.: That the Jews will be 
restored to their own land ;—thatthis will become the 
occasion, or be in the midst of great revolutions and 
convulsions among the European and Asiatic nations, 
particularly those that occupy the territory of the Ro- 
man empire, embracing Western and Central Asia, and - 
Northern and North-eastern Africa ;—that a general 
dissolution of society shall take place through the 
spirit of lawlessness and violence, of corruption and 
revolution, which shall prevail, and be especially pro- 
moted by the irruption of Northern hordes into South- 
ern Europe and Western Asia, like a devastating storm 
of hail;—that there shall be a great conspiracy 
among the anti-Christian nations, led’'on by some one 


* See Rev. J. W. Brooks on the Advent and Kingdom of Christ; 
also, his Elements of Prophetical Interpretation. Sermons on the 
Second A lvent, by Rev. Hugh M’Neile; also his Prospects of the 
Jews. Hon. Gerard TeNoel’s Brief Inquiry into the Prospécts of 
the Church of Christ. Cox on the Cominz and Kingdom of 
Christ. Letters by Joseph D’Arcy Sirr, on the First Resurrec- 
tion, and other works, to be met in the Literalist, published by O. 
Rogers of Philalelphia—especially Cuniaghame on the Apoca- 
lypse, and Habershon on the Prophecies and on the Revelation, 
Also, Frazer on the Prophecies, though not believing in the per- 
sonal advent, the Investigator, the Morning Watch, Fry on the 
Second Alvent, Mede’s Clavis Apocalyptica, and various letters and 
discourses contained in his works, Begg on the Prophecies, δὸς, &c. 


164 @RNERAL OUTLINE OF tite 


of the ten sovereignties of Europe, or of some new 
oriental power to arise within the bounds of the 
old Roman empire, which sovereignty shall be the 
‘Assyrian of Isaiah, the last form of Antichrist ;— 
that this conspiracy will lead to the great war of Gog 
and Magog predicted by Ezekiel, and the battle of Ar. 

tmageddon, by John, issuing in the terrible destruction 
of the anti-Christian nations ;—that some time, either 
previous to, or during these movements, the sign of 
the Son of man coming in the heavens, shall be seen, 
tad He descending from Heaven into the air, with his 
saints for the resurrection of their bodies, and cateh- 
ing up the saints alive on the earth into the presencé 
of the Lord ;—that at this coming, which will be sud- 
den and unexpected, he will inflict dreadful judgments 
on the apostate nations by means of volcanic and 
other fires, which will destroy the seat of the Beast, 
the mystic Babylon, but not all the nations of the 
earth ;—that while his saints remain for a series of 
years in the immediate presence of Christ, before He 
descends from the air to the earth, being judged and 
allotted to their stations and work, He will be conduct- 
ing his retributive judgment on the nations of the 
earth, preparing the way for the full restoration of 
Israel, and their national conversion, in a manner analo- 
gous with his Providence toward them for forty 
years in the wilderness ;—and that when the work of 
judgment by various interpositions of His Providence, 
shall have gone on, and the wickedness of the anti-Chris- 
tian nations shall have come to the fall, at the last sig- 
nal stroke of Divine vengeance, he will descend from 
the air, and stand upon the Mount of Olives, utterly to 
destroy the hosts of the wicked, to change the geo- 
logical structure of Jerusalem and its vicinity, by ἃ 
terrible earthquake, and to produce those transforma- 
tions designed to fit it for being made the metropolis 


LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 165 


of the world ;—that He will re-establish the Theocra- 
cy in Jerusalem in more than its pristine glory, with 
its temple rebuilt, and rites of worship adapted to the 
dispensation in which Jerusalem and the Jewish nation 
are to stand pre-eminent among the nations ;—that 
having concluded his work of retributive justice by 
various means, through a series of years, to the entire 
extermination of the wicked on the face of the whole 
Roman earth, there shall be found remnants of people 
on whom the abundant and mighty influences of the 
Spirit of God shall have been poured out, and nations 
be born in a day, by their thorough conversion and 
cordial submission to the dominion of Heaven by 
means of the saints ;—that these powerful effusions of 
the Spirit, and the dominion of Christ by means of. 
his raised and quickened saints, will bring the heathen 
nations and the uttermost parts of the earth, the 
whole world, into peaceful blessed subjection ;—that 
the risen and glorified saints will be His kings and 
priests for the administration of the political and reli- 
gious interests of the nation ;—that the Theocracy, 
with its temple rebuilt as described by Ezekiel, and 
established in Jerusalem, shall be the nucleus and cen- 
tre of all political and religious influences, and all the 
nations of the earth be united to it ;—that while 
Christ will indeed dwell on the earth, his presence 
will be displayed but occasionally at Jerusalem:as 
King, according to rites and at seasons appointed by 
him ;—that his constant and immediate presence will 
be in the Heavenly City, the New Jerusalem, not built 
by the hands of men, but directly and miraculously by 
God, in which there shall be no temple, but Christ’s 
presence constitute its glory, and the delight of His — 
risen saints ;--that while Heaven shall thus descend 


on earth, the saints will have communication with the 
15 


166 | GENERAL OUTLINE OF THE 


nations in the flesh, and the Theocracy be made the 
channel of Heavenly influence for the happiness of 
the world ;—that this glorious dominion as establish- 
ed at its first epoch, shall last a thousand years, during 
which time Satan shall be confined, and his power to 
tempt and corrupt the nations be restrained ;—that 
although during this period death will still prevail 
among the nations in the flesh ; yet the climates and 
habits of earth having undergone such a remarkable 
transformation, by great geological and atmospheric 
changes, as to be denominated a new heaven, anda 
new earth, death will not be so common, the age of 
man. will be prolonged like that of a tree, and a hun- 
dred years be but the time of youth ;—that thus the 
judgment of Heaven will be prolonged upon the earth, 
and the righteous be made to triumph ;—that at the 
close of this blessed period, the last act in the great 
work and day, or dispensation of judgment, shall take 
place, when Satan shall be released from his confine- 
ment, all the nations of the wicked raised from the 
dead, the Gog and Magog of John metaphorically or 
typically described by the Gog and Magog of Eze- 
kiel, and be summoned before Christ to receive their 
final sentence ;—that then, in mad desperation, these 
hosts of hell, led on by the Devil and his angels, shall 
make their last and violent assault upon the holy city 
where Christ and his saints dwell, and think to storm 
the heavenly city, which shall be but the occasion for 
the last signal interposition of Divine justice and Al- 
mighty vengeance for their eternal destruction ;—and 
that doomed and hurled to the bottomless abyss by the 
power of Omnipotence, earth shall be for ever purged 
and redeemed fromthe dominion of Satan, placed 
back again amidst the heavenly worlds—restored to 
more than paradisiacal purity and glory—death for 
ever cease in it, and that state of glory and blessed- | 


LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL SYSTEMS. 167 


ness be confirmed in which the dominion of Heaven shall 
be absolutely, immutably, and eternally established in 
righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, and 
this ransomed, renovated; and recovered globe, shine 
resplendent in Heaven’s brilliancy, never more to be 
invaded or polluted by the entrance of sin. 

Well might the prophets, who caught a distant 
glimpse of these stupendous glories, be wrapt in 
eestasy! Truly, “eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, 
nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive 
the things prepared for them that love God.” ‘“ Belov- 
ed, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet ap- 
pear what we shall be.’ Loud and ecstatic shall be 
the shout of triumph, when earth and heaven shall 
mingle in full chorus, as “the voice of a great multi- 
tude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice 
of many thunderings, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord 
God Omnipotent reigneth!” My heart kindles at the 
prospect, and is ready to catch the strain of Heaven: 


Glory to God! 
And to the Lamb, who bought us with his blood, 
From every kindred, nation, people, tongue, 
And washed, and sanctified, and saved our souls, 
And gave us robes of linen pure, and crowns 
Of life, and made us kings and priests to God ! 
Shout back to ancient time! Sing loud, and wave 
Your palms of triumph! Sing, “ Where is thy sting, 
Oh death! where is thy victory, oh grave !” 
Thanks be to God, eternal thanks, who gave 
Us victory through Jesus Christ our Lord ! 
Harp, lift thy voice on high !—shout! angels, shout! 
And loudest ye redeemed ! glory to God, 
And to the Lamb all glory and all praise ! 
All glory and all praise at morn and even, 
That come and go eternally, and find 
Us happy still, and thee for ever blest! 
Glory to God and to the Lamb !—Amen! 
For ever and for ever more—Amen ! 


l 
168 - GENERAL OUTLINE, ETC. — 


ες Impenitent reader! will you participate in the glory 
and triumph of that scene ? or shall you perish in the 
overthrow of the ungodly? Fearful and horrible shall 
be the doom of the wicked.’ Devils and damned spir- 
‘its, as hell pours forth her millions to be judged, may 
think to storm the citadel of heaven, and compass the 
camp of the servants of the Most High, led on by the 
madness of desperation; but it will prove like the 
last gleam of hope that flares in the socket for an in- 
stant, and then is quenched in the blackness of dark- 
ness for ever! Methinks I see them, as they fall be- 
fore God and the Lamb, repulsed and driven by the 


fierce blast of Almighty vengeance. 
They upon the verge 
Of Erebus, a moment, pausing stood, 
And saw, below, the unfathomable lake, 
Tossing with tides of dark, tempestuous wrath, 
And would have looked behind; but greater wrath 
Behind forbade, which now no respite gave 
To final misery. God, in the grasp 
Of his almighty strength, took them, upraised, 
And threw them down unto the yawning pit 
Of bottomless perdition, ruined ! damned ! 
Fast bound in chains of darkness ever more ! 
And second death and the undying worm 
Opening their jaws with hideous yell, 
Falling, received their everlasting prey. 
A groan returned! as down they sunk, and sunk, 
And ever sunk, among the utter dark ! 
A groan returned! The righteous heard the groan— 
The groan of all the reprobate—when first 
They felt damnation sure! and heard hell elose! 
And heard Jehovah and his love retire ! 
A groan returned! The righteous heard the groan, 
As if all misery, all sorrow, grief, 
All pain, all anguish, all despair, which all. 
Have suffered, or shall feel from first to last— 
Eternity—had gathered to one pang, 
And issued in one groan of boundless woe ! 


~ 


CHAPTER VII. 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


Οὐκ object in this chapter is to unfold the tra- 
ditionary history of what has been called Millenarian 
doctrine. The term Millenarian is sometimes used as 
a term of contempt; but is, nevertheless, admitted by 
those who adopt the literal system of prophetical 
interpretation, to be an appropriate designation, in 
contradistinction from the spiritualists, who, in their 
turn, are denominated Anti-millenarian. It is in- 
tended by it to denote those who believe that the 
prophets of the Old and New Testament predict the 
personal visible coming of Jesus Christ with his saints 
before the Miijenium, to raise their dead bodies, to 
destroy the anti-Christian nations, and to establish his 
glorious kingdom or dominion over all the earth, in 
which, by the ministry of his saints raised from the 
dead, and quickened at his coming, He will reign for 
1,000 years and judge the world. The term Anti- 
millenarian denotes those, who affirm that the coming 
of Christ to judgment will not take place till after 1,000 
years’ great prosperity in religion, during which He 
may be said spiritually, that is allegorically, to be 
present and to reign with his saints on the earth. 

It is a matter of some interest to inquire what were 
the views on this subject, entertained by the successors 
of the prophets and the early Fathers of the Christian 
church—those who lived nearest the days of the 
prophets and apostles, and who may be, therefore, 
presumed to have derived by tradition their views 

10: 


] 
170 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


relative to the meaning of the prophecies concerning 
the coming and kingdom of Jesus Christ. Were they 
Millenarians or Anti-millenarians? Did they expect 
the personal visible coming of Christ, before or after 
the Millenium? The views they entertained on this 
subject will enable us to decide, whether they under- 
stood the prophets and apostles to predict a literal or 
metaphorical coming of Christ; and also, what prin- 
ciples of interpretation they adopted in relation to the 
prophecies. 

It is certainly a reasonable presumption, that those 
who lived nearest the apostles, would be most likely 
to understand the general import of their teaching 
and charges and exhortations- about the coming of 
Christ, and practically to adopt their principles of 
interpretation. 

We cordially subscribe to the remarks of Mr. Faber, 
on the subject of historical testimony, in reference to 
the doctrine of election, although he has failed to 
apply them to the important themes of prophecy on 
which he has so largely written. “In revealed 
religion, by the very. nature and necessity of things, 
as Tertullian well teaches us: Whatever is first ts true, 
whatever is later is adulterate. If a doctrine totally un- 
known to the primitive church, which received her 
theology immediately from the hands of the apostles, 
and which continued long to receive it from the hands 
of the disciples of the apostles, springs up in a subse- 
quent age, let that age be the fifth century or let it be 
the tenth century, or let it be the sixteenth century, 
such doctrine stands, on its very front, impressed with 
the brand of mere Auman invention. Hence, in the 
language of Tertullian, it is adulterate: and hence, 
‘with whatever plausibility it may be fetched out of a 
particular interpretation of Scripture, and with what- 


-TRADITIONARY: HISTORY. ΜΗ 


ever practical piety on the part of its advocates, it 
may be attended, we cannot evidentially admit it to be 
part and parcel of the divine revelation of Christi- 
anity.”* We claim no greater respect than this for 
traditionary testimony as to the doctrine of Christ’s 
coming and kingdom. ‘The views entertained by the 
early fathers, expressed their understanding of the 
Scriptures on this subject,and is valuable historical 
testimony as to their principles of interpretation. 
This cannot well be denied by the spiritualist; for we 
find that the principles of allegorical interpretation, 
which originated in the schools of philosophy and re- 
ligion, and which, though originated in the second 
century, were first brought out and applied by Origen 
in the exposition of the Sacred Scriptures, have 
actually been respected for centuries, and even now 
serve to shape the views of a large portion of the 
church of God. The question then is, shall tradition, 
starting with Clement of Alexandria and Theophilus, 
and systematized by Origen, who lived three centuries 
later, or tradition starting with the apostles, or the 
prophets before them, be most regarded 2 

Weare free to say, that much greater deference is 
due to the traditions starting with the apostles, or 
respected by them, and found embodied in the views, 
opinions and comments of the early fathers of the 
Christian church, than to those of later origin; and 
that for the following reasons :— 

1. The apostle Paul states expressly, that there 
were traditions in his day on this very subject, which 
he had taught the Thessalonian Christians, and which 
he exhorted them to maintain. ‘Stand fast and hold 

the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by 


* Faber’s Primitive Doctrine of Election, pp. 158, 159. 


172 ΤΕΑΡΙΤΙΟΝΑΕῪ HISTORY. 


word or our epistle.’* _He commended also the 
Corinthians for this thing,} and exhorted Timothy to 
“hold fast the form of sound words which he had 
heard of him.”{ We shall have occasion presently to 
see how tenacious primitive Christians were on this 
very matter; and although afterwards, the disposition 
to adhere to apostolic traditions, hecame the means of 
gross corruptions, which the church of Rome, by the 
council of Treut and the decretals of popes, impose 
on popular credulity, when piety had ‘greatly deterio- 
rated; yet, in the primitive church, this respect for 
traditionary information operated. so beneficially, as to 
prevent schismatic divisions, and to render specific 
ereeds, which have since become the badges of sect, 
unnecessary. 

2. There was a greater lenity and simplicity of 
faith, too, during that period, and much less of the 
subtleties, speculations, and refinements of philosophy 
than afterwards. Christianity was the religion of the 
heart and of the life, and remained more pure, more 
elementary, more influential, more efficacivus, during 
the trials and persecutions of plain, humble, unlettered 
early Christians and martyrs, than when Platonic 
philosophers, subsequently converted, and dwelling at 
ease, began to incorporate their mysticism and meta- 
physics, with its precious and efficacious truths. 
Because it is of the very essence of truth in religion,” 
observes Isaac ‘Taylor, the author of Ancient Chris- 
tianity, ‘‘ to blend itself with a certain series of events, 
and to mix itself with history; example more than 
precept, biography more than abstract doctrine, are 
made to convey to us in the Scriptures the various 
elements of piety. Truth in religion is something that 


* 2 Thess, 2. 15. t 1 Cor. 11. 2. {2 Tim. 1. 13. 


TRADITIONARY ‘HISTORY. 173 


has been acted and transacted; it is something that 
has been embodied in persons and societies.” 

These remarks apply, in some degree, equally to the 
primitive history of the Christian church. It isin the. 
sentiments, writings, lives, sufferings, and martyrdom 
of primitive Christians, that we are to get an acquaint- 
ance with the motives, hopes, and views that animated 
and sustained them; or in other words, the manner in 
which they apprehended the grand distinctive influen- 
tial truths and facts revealed in the Sacred Scriptures. 
“ All mystification apart, as well as a superstitious 
and overweening deference to antiquity, nothing can 
be more simple than the facts on which rest the 
legitimate use and value of the ancient documents of 
Christianity, considered as the repositories of those 
practices and opinions which, obscurely or ambiguously 
alluded to in the canonical writings, are found drawn 
forth and illustrated in the records of the times imme- 
diately succeeding. These records contain at once a 
testimony in behalf of the capital articles of our faith, 
and an exposition of minor sentiments and ecclesi- 
astical usages, neither of which can be surrendered 
without some serious loss and damage.”’* 

While, therefore, we do not overvalue and exalt 
tradition as of equal authority with the written word, 
yet are we far from undervaluing it as a legitimate aid 
in attempting to ascertain the import of that written 
word, being, as far as it goes, the exponent of their 
views who lived nearest the apostles, and possessed 
much of their spirit. We claim, however, that this 
remark be not understood to apply to a later period, 
however far in antiquity from us, when we know, from 
abundant historical documents, that. the church, 


* Ancient Christianity, pp. 71, 72. 


1 
174 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


τ΄, 


agreeably to apostolical predictions, had become 
greatly corrupted through philosophy and vain deceit. 
_ With these preliminary remarks, we are prepared 
to trace the history of the views entertained by the 
primitive church, relative to the coming and kingdom 
of Jesus Christ. They did not apprehend such a 
Millenium as the spiritualists anticipate ; nor did they 
regard the church to be the kingdom of Heaven. 
They looked for the personal visible coming of Jesus 
Christ and his kingdom as drawing nigh. All their 
joy and hope of triumph centred in His “ appearing,” 
nor did they look for the arrival of his kingdom on 
earth, till he should have destroyed the Antichrist, 
which the apostles had predicted would arise, and was 
destined to be destroyed “by the brightness of Christ’s 
appearing.” κὴ 
_ Itis proper, however, in order to the full and fair 
exhibition of the views of the primitive church on this 
subject, to remark, that we must first start with the 
traditions, so far as we can ascertain them, which were 
current before Christ, and sanctioned and transmitted 
by the apostles. Here, too, we must discriminate 
between what were matters of faith, simple statements 
of their belief, founded on the word of God,—and 
what were conjectures and opinions, founded on their 
inferences. This is always necessary, for we cannot 
long or often speak on the mere facts of Christianity, 
without mixing up with them more or less of our own 
reasonings and philosophy, which may or may not be 
erroneous, but which do not form part of revelation. 
Whoever will read the New Testament attentively, 
cannot fail to perceive that John the Baptist, the 
forerunner of Christ, Christ himself, and his apostles, 
adopted phrases, and a style of speech on various 
subjects, quite current among the Jews of that day. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. bf 84) 


The burden of their preaching was, “ Repent, for the 
kingdom of Heaven is at hand ;”* i. 6. is drawing 
nigh, approaching. ‘They assumed that their hearers 
had some ideas in common with them, about an 
approaching kingdom, called sometimes the kingdom 
of Heaven, and sometimes the kingdom of God. ‘They 
did net commence it as a new thing, and startling to 
the Jewish faith. Nor did they deem it necessary to 
define their terins, and carefully correct any current 
mistakes and misapprehensions about its nature, 
although the Saviour took occasion, both for the 
benefit of his disciples, and for the reproof of the 
Pharisees, to illustrate, by similes and parables, many 
of its important features. The points inculcated, 
were the motives and obligations to repentance drawn 
from the fact, that the kingdom of Heaven was 
drawing nigh, of course not yet arrived. ‘Thus John 
the Baptist preached, till God out of Heaven, by 
miraculous sights and sounds at his baptism, pro- 
claimed Jesus of Nazareth to be his beloved Son the 
Messiah, and John announced him to be “the Lamb 
of God which taketh away the. sin οἵ the world,” + and 
quickly ended his ministry. 

The general opinion of the Jews was, that, imme- 
diately on the appearance of the Messiah, He would 
set up his kingdom so long predicted. On one occa- 
sion, multitudes collected around Jesus of Nazareth 
ready to enlist under his banner, and to embark in any 
measures for the purpose of proclaiming and estab- 
lishing him as their king. But the Saviour, so far 
from favoring the idea that his kingdom had arrived, 
disdained all their professions of attachment, and 
proffers of help to make him aking. He never, how- 


* Mat. 3. 234.173 .10.-7% t John 1. 29, 


rs ** TRADITIONARY HISTORY. ’ 


ever, for a moment, denied, either that he was a king 
or the king’s son. . On the contrary, he distinctly 
affirmed it, thus directing the Jews, to whom his 
ministry was restricted, to look to him for the verifi- 
cation of all the great and wondrous things, which 
their prophets had proclaimed about him and his 
kingdom. At the same time, he expressly intimated, 
that his kingdom had not yet come. All that He pro- 
claimed on the subject was, that it was at hand—ap- 
proaching—how near or how:far off, he thought not 
proper to declare. 

It is, therefore, of some moment for us to inquire, 
what were the views entertained by the Jews prior to 
the coming of Christ, we mean, especially, by the more 
devout! What was their exposition of the pro- 
phecies? We cite them not as decisive authority, but 
as historical testimony of value, under all the circum- 
_ stances of the case, in attempting to ascertain the 
import of Christ’s preaching and predictions. It is 
true,'there is but little testimony up to the time of 
Christ, beside that of the inspired writers, which latter 
we do not now bring into view,—the question being, 
how were, and are, they to be understood ? Still there 
is enough of orthodox Jewish testimony, which de- 
serves not to be confounded with the writings of 
later and anti-Christian Rabbis. 

The writer of the Apocryphal book of Hedrax Il. 

who was captive in the land of the Medes, in the reign 
of Artaxerxes, king of the Persians,* relates a dream 
which he had, with the interpretation, which we quote, 
not as of canonical authority; but as historical testi- 
mony to the manner in which the ancient Jews under- 
stood the prophecies before the coming of Christ. 


* 2 Esdras, 13. 25-50. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 177 


“ This is the meaning: of the vision; whereas thou 
shwest a man coming up from the fii dat of the sea. 
The same is he whom God the highest hath kept a 
great season, which by his own self shall deliver his 
ereature—and he shall order them that are left behind. 
And whereas thou sawest that out of his mouth there 
eame as a blast of wind, and fire, and storm; and ‘that 
hé held neither sword nor any instrument of war, but 
that the rushing in of him destroyed the whole mul- 
tifide that came to subdue him. This is the interpre- 
tation—Behold the day is come when the Most High 
will begin to deliver them that are upon the earth 
and He shall come to the astonishment of them that 
dwell upon the earth—and one shall undertake to 
fight against another, one city against another, one 
place against another, one people against another, 
one realin against another. And the time shall be 
when these things shall come to pass, and the signs 
shall happen which I showed thee before, and then 
stiall my Son be declared, whom thou sawest as a 
man ascending. And when all the people hear his 
voice, every man shall leave the battle they have one 
against another. Andan innumerable multitude shall 
be gathered together as thou sawest them, willing to 
come and to overeome him by fighting. But he shall 
stand upon the top of the Mount Sion—and Sion shall 
come and be showed to all men, being prepared and 
builded, like as thou sawest the hill graven without 
hands.. And this my Son shall rebuke the wicked in- 
ventions of those nations which for their wicked life 
are fallen into the tempest. And they shall lay be- 
fore them their evil thoughts; and the torments 
wherewith they shall begin to be tormented, which 
are like unto a flame, and he shall destroy them with- 
out labor by the law which is like unto fire. And 

16 


178 TRADITIONARY uistory. 


whereas thou sawest that he gathered another peace- 
able multitude unto him; these are the tribes which 
were carried away prisoners out of their own land, in 
the time of Osea the king, whom Salmanassar, the 
king of Assyria, led away captive, and he carried 
them over the waters, and so came they into another 
land. But they took this counsel:among themselves, 
that they would leave the multitude of the heathen, and 
go forth into a further country where never mankind 
dwelt—that they might there keep their statutes which 
they never kept in their own land—and they entered 
into Euphrates by the narrow passage of the river, 
For the Most High then showed signs for them, and 
held still the flood, until they were passed over. For 
through the country there was a great way to go, 
namely, of a year anda half; and the same region 
is called Arsareth, Then dwelt they there until the 
latter time ; and now, when they shall begin ‘to come, 
the Highest shall stay the springs of the stream again, 
that they may go through; therefore sawest thou the 
multitude with peace. But those that he left behind 
of thy people, are they that are found within my 
borders. Now, when he destroyeth the multitude of 
the nations that are gathered together, he shall defend 
his people that remain—and then shall he show them 
great wonders.” 

The writer also of the book of Tobit, which, ac- 
cording to Dr. Gray and other critics, was written in 
Chaldaic, during or soon after the captivity, expresses 
the same sentiments. ‘“ Go into Media, my son, for 
I surely believe those things which Jonas the prophet 
spake of Nineveh, that it shall be overthrown; and 
that for a time peace shall rather be in Media; and 
that our brethren shall be scattered in the earth from 
that good land; and Jerusalem shall be desolate, and 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 179 


the house of God in it shall be burned and shall be 
desolate for a time. And that again God will have 
mercy on them and bring them again into the land, 
where they shall build a temple, but not like to the 
first, until the time of that age be fulfilled ; and after- 
wards they shall return from all places of their cap- 
tivity, and build up Jerusalem gloriously, and the 
house of God shall be built in it for ever with a glo- 
rious building, as the prophets have spoken thereof. 
And all nations shall turn and fear the Lord God truly, 
and shall bury their idols. So shall all nations praise 
the Lord, and his people shall confess God, and the 
Lord shall exalt his people, and all those which love 
the Lord God in truth and justice shall rejoice, show- 
ing mercy to our brethren.”* | 

The writer of the book of Wisdom,t who was cer- 
tainly a Jew of high antiquity, supposed by Grotius to 
have lived between the time of Ezra and Simon the 
Just, says of the dead, “In the time of their visitation 
they shall shine, and run to and fro like sparks among 
the stubble ; they shall judge the nations and have 
dominion over the people, and their Lord shall rule 
for ever.” ‘These testimonies carry tradition back to 
the very days of Daniel, and the prophets of the cap- 
tivity ; which, although we receive it not as canoni- 
cal, is nevertheless of value as the current exposi- 
tion of prophecy, showing the manner in which the 
prophecies were interpreted and understood in that 
early age. ᾽ 

The Targums of the Jews were paraphrases of the 
law, supposed to have been first used in Ezra’s time, 
but not reduced to writing till the days of Onkelos 
and Jonathan, about thirty years before Christ. The 


* Tobit, 14. 4-7. { Chap. 2. 7, 8. 


: Ϊ 
180 TRADITIONARY HISTORY, . 


Babylonian Targum says, “Christ shall come, whose 
is the kingdom, and him shall the nations serve.”* _ 

The Jerusalem Targum on the same passage says, 
“the king Christ shall come, whose is the kingdom, 
and all nations shall be subject to Him.” These, it is 
true, are general statements, and will be admitted by 
all to be correct expositions of the passage, but in 
what sense they were understood will appear from the 
writings of their ancient Rabbinical doctors. 


Rabbi Eliezart the Great, supposed to have ina 


soon after the second temple was built, referring to 
Hosea 14. 8, applies it to the pious dawel who seemed 
likely to die without seeing the glory of the Lord, 
saying, “ As I live, saith Jehovah, I will raise you 
up, in the time to come, in the resurrection of the 
dead, and I will gather you with al/ Israel.” 

Mr. Brooks,t in his Elements of Prophetical Inter- 
pretation, states that “ the Sadducees are related to 
have asked Rabbi Gamaliel, the preceptor of Paul, 
whence he could prove that God would raise the 
dead. Nor could he silence them until he brought 


. against them, Deut. 11. 21, ‘ which land the Lord, 


moreover, sware he would give to your fathers.’ 
The Rabbi argued, as Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had 
it not, and God cannot lie, therefore they must be 
raised from the dead to inherit it.” Christ’s argu- 
ment from the Pentateueh, in favor of the resurrec- 
tion, is substantially the same, taken from the Abra- 
hamic Covenant. 

Mede quotes the testimony of Rabbi Simai, though 
of later date, who argues the resurrection from 


* On Gen. 49. 10. 


ft See his Capitula, c. 34, referred to in Elements of Prophetical 


Interpretation, by Brooks, p. 33. 
t El. Proph. Int. 33. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 181 


‘Exodus 6. 4, insisting, that the law asserts, in this 
place, the resurrection from the dead, viz. when it is 
said, “ and also | have established my covenant with 
thet to give them the land of Canaan ;” for he adds, 
it is not said to you but to them. . : 

We deem it pertinent here, having traced the chain 
of tradition, from the days of Daniel down through 
the Jewish church, to refer to the traditionary testi- 
mony, starting from the same date, and running down 
through a much more corrupt channel, the Gentile 
philosophy. We refer to the testimony of Zoroaster, 
which, although given in the midst of all the fables 
and falsehoods of his Zendavesta, the work of an 
atrant impostor, and which laid the foundation of the 
whole system of Islamism, the religion of Mahomet, 
yet, nevertheless, embodies, distinctly, the same 
general views received by the Jews from their pro- 
phets. Zoroaster, the author of the Zendavesta of the 
Persians, and the restorer of the religion of the an- 
cient Magians, was, as Dr. Prideaux* has shown, 
the servant of the prophet Daniel, and not, as Dr. 
Burnet supposes, a cotemporary of Abraham and Job. 
In that work, he has copiously borrowed from the 
writings of Isaiah and the book of Psalms, mixing up 
with them his own heathenish philosophy m various 
allegorical illustrations of the origin and destruction 
of evil. Although he attributes the renovation of the 
world to three miraculously begotten persons, or pro- 
phets, whose origin he immediately derived from him- 
self; yet his plagiarisms can be detected, and his pre- 


* See Prideaux’s Connection of Old and New Testament, vol. i. 
p. 203, Oxford edition. See also Frazer’s Hist. and Descript. Ac- 
count of Persia, p. 147, referring to the Abbé Foucher as his.au- 
thority, in Mémoires de Academie des Inscriptions, vol. xxvii., 
ἔχιν, XXXi:, XXXIK. 

105 


1: 
182 TRADITIONARY HISTORY- _ 


dictions traced to the Hebrew prophets, and to their 
references to the things spoken concerning Jesus 
Christ, the Messiah. ‘In the last times,” says Zoro- 
aster, ‘‘ after the earth shall have been afflicted with 
evil of every kind, plague, pestilence, hail, famine 
and war, Oschederbami and Oschedermah first appear, 
with great and supernatural powers, and effect the 
conversion of a large portion of mankind. At last 
Sosioch, (a name resembling very nearly in sound the 
Hebrew Messiah), makes his appearance. Under him 
follows the resurrection. He will judge the living 
and the dead, give new glory to the earth, and remove 
from a world of sorrows the germ of evil... And 
finally, at the command of the righteous judge Or- 
muzd, Sosioch will, from an elevated place, render to 
all men what their deeds deserve. The dwelling of 
the. pure will be the splendid Gorotmann—Ormuzd 
himself will take their bodies to his presence on 
high.” | 

Dr. Hengstenburg,* in commenting on these and 
other passages extracted from the Zendavesta, says— 
“If we leave out of view the division of that among 
three persons, which belongs only to one, analogous 
to which is the notion of the two Messiahs among the 
later Jews and the Samaritans, we shall not fail to 
perceive the coincidence of this expectation, with the 
prophecies of the Old Testament and the fulfilment, and 
shall not be disposed to ascribe it to any mere human 
origin.” He means that it is the truths of revelation 
which Zoroaster, that successful impostor, stole from 
the Jewish prophets, adulterated and worked up in his 
own splendid and artful imposition of a false religion, 
which although the parent of Islamism, and superseded 


* Hengstenburg’s Christology, v. i. pp. 16, 17. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 183 


by it, nevertheless still exists to some extent among 
the Ghebres in Persia and the Parsees of India,* 

_ We quote and value this testimony, only 85, his- 
torical evidence of the manner in which the writings 
of Isaiah, Daniel, and other prophets, were interpreted 
and understood by their cotemporaries and succes- 
sors. The grammatical or literal interpretation, and 
not the mystical or allegorical, evidently formed 
the guide to the leading import of the predictions, 
understood to authorise. the expectation of the per- 
sonal appearance of the Messiah for judgment, the 
resurrection of the dead, the renovation of the world, - 
and the consequent-universal happiness of mankind. 

It is not necessary to trace the entire stream of pro- 
fane tradition, which has flowed down among the 
oriental nations. It may suffice to add one or two 
general testimonies on this subject. Plutarch quotes 
the views of Zoreaster, and adds, “that Theopom- 
pus relates it as the opinion of the Magians, that 
the struggle between the evil and the good principles of 
Zoroaster is to continue 6,000 years, and that, at the 
end of this time, the evil principle should be utterly 
overthrown, and that then mankind should be happy.” 

The doctrine of the revolution of all things, and of the 
renovation of the world consequent thereon, was 
taught by Plato and his followers. But Dr. Burnet 
has shown,} that he received it from the barbaric phi- 
losophers, and particularly the Egyptian priests. The 
Sibyls sung this song of old, as we find it_copied by 
Virgil in his fourth Eclogue. Pythagoras, the pupil of 
Zoroaster, taught it before Plato, and Orpheus before 
both. The tradition reaches as high as the Greek 
philosophy. The barbaric nations, as they were 


* See Frazer’s Hist. and Descript. Account of Persia, pp. 141, 161. 
t Burnet on Creation, p. 607. 


ie 


184 TRADITIONARY orion? 

called, the Egyptians, Persians, Chaldeans, Indians, 
Brachmans, and other oriental nations, were more 
ancient than the Greeks. They all had this doctrine 
of the future renovation of the earth. It supposed, says 
Dr. Burnet, an Annus Magnus or great year, at the end 
of which, an entire mundane revolution should be per- 
formed, πῆρα all the celestial bodies should have 
finished their courses, and be come about to the same 
point in the heavens, and the same position with 
regard to each other, they were in, when first created, 
and that when this great round of time (or cycle): 
should be performed, a restoration of the moral world 
should likewise ensue, and universal nature be reco- 
vered from all its disorders, and reinstated in its pris- 
tine happy condition. Accordingly, this doctrine is 
called Palingenesia,* the Scripture term for the regene- 
ration or renovation of all things. Gale,t in his Court 
of the Gentiles, has traced certain Ethnic stories of 
the last judgment, man’s future immortal state, and 
the resurrection of the body, from the Sacred Scrip- 
tures, and styles the Platonic year an ape of the last 
judgment. 

In addition to these testimonies, which are ἩΟΝ 
written tradition, embodied in the formal interpreta- 
tion of scriptural passages, by Jewish writers, and 
transferred to those of profane authors, we may notice 
some of the more general and floating traditions of 
the early Jewish church, which do not find any direct 
support from any part of the Scriptures, but seem to 
have been deduced analogically, or from the assump- 
tion, generally entertained, that the six days’ work of 
creation and the Sabbath, were typical, as well as the 


* Burnet on Creation, p. 611. 
t See Gale’s Court of the Gentiles, v. i. ch. 6. 


ji. a See 
»»- Ten 


Ὅν 


Ons 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY: 125 


Sabbatical and Jubilean cycles. It was ἃ commonly 
received opinion, that the world was to last, in its pre- 
sent state, 6,000 years, and in the seventh should be 
renewed, when all the promises of God, made to the 
fathers, should be accomplished.* Losing sight of the 
fact, that the prophets predict two comings .of the 
Messiah, this tradition contributed to.confirm the Jews 
in their unbelief, replying to the Christian proofs of 
the Messiah having come in the person of Jesus Christ, 
that the world was not yet 6,000 years old.t Still 
they were not agreed as to which of the seven mille- 
naries would be selected for the coming of the Mes- 
siah. ‘The more general one was, that the world was 
to be 2,000 years void of the law, 2;000 under the 
law, and 2,000 under the Messiah.” This opinion, 
which Christians employed against the Jews’ rejection 
of Jesus Christ, was called “a tradition of the house 
of Elias,” an eminent Rabbi, who lived before Christ. 
The same tradition also taught, that, in the seventh 
millenary, the earth would be renewed, and the right- 


* Mede quotes Irenzus, lib. v. c. 28. 30, Justin Martyr, in his 
dialogue with Trypho the Jew, Cyprian, lib. de exhortatione mar- 
tyrii, Lactantius, de div. proem. lib. 7. c. 14, as entertaining this idea. 

The ancient Jews, he says, also had-a tradition to the same pur- 
pose, as appears by these testimonies recorded in the Gemara or 
Gloss of their Talmud, Cod. Sanhedrim cap. Kol. Jisrael. For 
there, concerning that of Esay chap. 2. (Exaltabitur Dominus solus 
die illo) thus speaks the Talmudical Gloss. 

Dixit Rabbi Ketina, Sex annorum Millibus stat Mundus, et uno 
(Millenario) vastabitur; de quo dicitur, ATQUE EXALTABITUR 
Dominus sotus Die 1110. Note.—By vastabitur, they mean the 
vastation of the world by fire in the day of judgment, whereby it 
shall become new, ora New Heaven and New Earth.—Mede’s. 
Works, lib. 5. ς. 3. p. 893. 

He gives also the tradition of the house of Elias to the same 
effect, pp. 776 and 893. ; 

t See Pezron’s Antiquities, ch. 4. 27. 


AA. 13, 


186 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


eous dead raised; that these should not again be 
turned to dust, and that the just then alive should mount 
up with wings as the eagle ; so that, in that day, they 
would not need to fear though the mountains (quot- 
ing Ps. 46. 3) should be cast into the midst of the sea. 
These traditions we do not quote, as authority, but 
as historical evidence of what the views and expecta- 
tions of the church were, during the period that 
elapsed from the captivity tothe coming of Christ. And 
they are of value as such, inasmuch as they originated 
about the time the splendid predictions of Daniel and 
Ezekiel were delivered, and embody in them ample 
proof, that, from the very days of the prophets them- 
selves, long prior to the first coming of Christ, the 
literal system of interpretation prevailed. If the rule 
of Tertullian, as quoted by Mr. Faber, be applied here, 
that what is first is true, and what is later is adulter- 
ate, the spiritual system of interpretation will find no 
support. 
~ But lest it may be said these were Jewish fables, de- 
serving of no alteration, and condemned by Christ and 
his apostles, who introduced and sanctioned the spi- 
ritual interpretation, let us next inquire whether there 
is any proof that they did so, or that they taught dif- 
ferent views about the Millenium; and the kingdom of 
Heaven, and what were the views of the primitive 
church on these subjects. As has been already inti- 
mated, neither Christ nor his apostles, saw fit to change 
the general style of speech prevailing, but talked of 
the kingdom of Heaven as approaching, not as arrived. 
Not one word or hint is heard from any of them, about 
the gospel’s enjoying a thousand years’ prosperity be- 
fore his coming. Not the slightest trace of such a 
Millenium as the spiritualists describe, consisting in 
the universal prevalence and prosperity of the gospel, 


ih tll 


TRADITIONARY. HISTORY. 187 


is to be found in the New Testament, excepting the 
disputed passage in Revelations. From the Saviour’s 
lips there never dropped the most remote hint on the 
subject. On the contrary, he said that in the world 
his disciples would have tribulation; he forewarned 
them of persecutions and trials as their uniform lot, 
and of such nature as to be totally incompatible 
with the idea-of a temporal Millenium, of the charac- 
ter expected by the spiritualists. Nay, more; He ex- 
pressly predicted, that down to the very time of the 
end, his followers would have to guard against decep- 
tion, and the imposition of false Christs and pretend- 
ers—that wars and rumors of wars should prevail, and 
instead of a thousand years of universal peace, under 
the preaching of the gospel, nation would rise up 
against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and 
there should be famines,,and pestilences, and earth- 
quakes in divers places,* and other things wholly in- 
consistent with the spiritualists’ notions of a Mille- 
nium. i 

So far from the kingdom being established, he says, 
the gospel of the kingdom, i. e. the good news of the 
kingdom, not the kingdom itself—the very thing both 
He and John the Baptist were preaching—would be 
preached in all the world, not as the reign of Heaven 
on earth, notas actually converting the world, but ‘ror 
A WITNESSf to all nations,” and that “ then the end would 
come.” The nations would be agitated, and continue to 
be so, in their wars with each other, down to the very 
time of the end, while, nevertheless, His gospel, the glad 
news of the kingdom of Heaven, the only hope of man 


and of this fallen world, should be preached or herald-: 


ed. God would bear his testimony of grace and merey, 


* Mat. 24, 4-14, + Mat. 24, 14, 


΄ 


. 


188 TRADITIONARY nidnows. 


ina fallem world, proclaiming the coming of his’ king- 
dom in the midst of the dinand confusion, the clangor 
of arms, the thunder of cannons, the shocks of earth- 
quakes, the roar of volcanoes, the wail of famine and 
pestilence, and the awful inflictions of Divine judg- 
ment upon the nations that rejeeo hiscsway. Nor 
would he make an end of them, till in despite of all 
their conspiracies, persecutions, and vengeance, his 
gospel had delivered his testimony among them all, 
but that then the end would come, and come with fury 
and desolation, just as the flood broke loose upon the 
guilty inhabitants of the old world. 

Where is there the least hint in all this, or in any 
other of the predictions of Christ, of such a Millenium 
as the spiritualist expects? We defy any man to pro- 
duce a single passage on the subject from the lips of 
Christ ; and.is‘it at all likely that, if the prophets had 
predicted such a Millenium, and sung so nobly and 
sweetly, ἀπά ἴῃ such exalted and extravagant strains 
about it, he would have never referred to it during 
the whole period of his ministry—especially when he 
undertook expressly to expound one of the most im- 
portant. predictions of Daniel, and to answer explicitly 
his disciples’ question, what should be the sign of his 
coming and of the end of the world 2 

If the Saviour knew that a thousand years, of ‘reli- 
gious prosperity before his coming, are to supervene, 
after all wars, and famines, and earthquakes, and pes- 
tilences cease—and if he meant a spiritua] coming, 
when they asked about, and understood him to speak 
of, his personal visible coming—he certainly evaded 
the disciples’ question, and Jed them wide astray from 
the truth. For we do not hear one of them ever breathe 
the least hint of such a period. We defy any evidence 
of such a thing to’ be produced from them. Paul, on 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. οι δ 


the contrary, deliversa prediction about the judgment, 
and the resurrection, exactly in accordance* with the 
tradition of the house of Elias. Moreover, he often 
‘spake οὗ. the coming of Christ'to judge the nations, 
and to establish his kingdom; in accordance with the 
notions of the more eminent and devout Jews, he 
employed language which actually filled the Thessalo- 
nians with alarm, as though the day of his coming 
had already arrived, and afterwards allayed their ter- 
rors by predicting the terrible apostacy that. should 
take place in the Christian church, and. the general 
and frightful corruption of society which should pre- 
cede his actual appearance. Peter, too, and Jude, 
also, express themselves in the very same way}; but 
are just as silent, as were Christ and Paul, on the sub- 
ject of a great day of religious prosperity, to occur one 
‘thousand years previous to the coming of Christ. 
And, surely, if any one would be likely to have given 
a ἀπῇ of such a period, it would have been Peter, 
whose visions carried him forward to the coming of 
Christ—to the conflagration of the soil and of men’s 
works—and to the new heavens and the new earth, 
wherein dwelleth righteousness. 

There is nothing in the predictions of Christ: and 
his apostles, or in their style of speech, which is in- 
consistent with the views expressed by the angel Ga- 
briel, in his revelation to Mary, that the child to be 
born of her should be called ‘ The Son of the Highest, 
‘and that the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of 
his father David, and He shall reign over the house of 
‘Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no 
end.” { 


The apostle John does, indeed, expressly predict 


*1 Thess. 4. 16,17. {2 Pet. 3.13. © { Luke, 1, 32, 33. 
11 


. Ἰ ' 
190 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. , - 


a Millenium; and he is the only ‘writer inthe New 
Testament that does. But the Millenium John pre- 
dicts is exactly coincident, in its leading features, with 
the expectations of the pious Jews before the days of 
Christ. He falls in, precisely, with the current of tra- 
ditionary testimony, and proclaims a Millenium, which 
is to be introduced by violence done to the old ser- 
pent, the devil and Satan, and by the resurrection of 
the saints, called the first resurrection, and which is 


to be characterized by Christ’s reigning with them a 


thousand years. 

Leaving now the writings of the New Testament, 
which are in accordance with the old traditions from 
the days of Daniel, and starting again from this point, 
‘in following down the chain ‘of traditionary or histori- 
‘€al testimony in the primitive church, we find nothing 
for the first century even approximating the views of 
the spiritualists. The prophecies were not allegort- 
cally, but literally, interpreted and understood. 

But little from ‘the pens of the writers of the first 
century has been ‘preserved; yet, what little has, 
affords its testimony in favor of the literal interpreta- 
tion, and against the spiritualists’ views of the mil- 
lenium. Barnabas, affirmed to be the companion and 
fellow-laborer of Paul the apostle, was, if not the same 
person, of very high antiquity. The epistle under his 
name, first published by Archbishop Usher and two 
years afterwards by Hugo Menardus, was declared to 
be genuine by Clement of Alexandria, Origen, and 
Jerome. 

Giesseler,* after detailing the authorities who*had 
questioned its authenticity, and indeed the whole con- 
troversy on the subject decides, along with Archbishops 


* See his Text Book of Ecclesiastical History, vol. ic pp. 67, 68. 


oe 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 19}; 


Usher, Wake, Vossius, and others, in its favor, and 
admits that it must have been written soon after the 
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. In this ancient 
epistle, Barnabas declares that the Abrahamic cove- 
nant survives and supersedes the Mosaic ; and, inquir- 
ing whether it-has been fulfilled, argues that it has only 
been so fulfilled, that God has sent Christ, who is to 
be the covenant pledge for the remainder of it ; and 
having quoted and commented, on, Is. 42. 6, and 61. 
1, 2, notices the typical character of the six days’ 
work of creation and of the Sabbath as the old Jews 
understood them, saying, ‘‘ Consider, my children, 
what that signifies: ‘He finished them in six days.’ 
The meaning is this: that in 6,000 years the Lord will 
bring all things to an end; for with Him one day is 
a thousand years, as himself testifieth, saying, ‘Behold 
this day shall. be as a thousand years;’ therefore, 
children, in six days (i. 6. 6,000 years) shall all things 
be accomplished. And what is that He saith, ‘He 
rested the seventh day ’ He meaneth, that when his 
Son shall come and abolish the wicked one, and. judge 
the ungodly, and change the sun, and moon, and stars, 
then He shall gloriously rest on the seventh day. 
Behold, He will chen truly sanctify it with blessed 
rest, when we have received the righteous promise— 
‘when iniquity shall be no more, all things being. re- 
newed by the Lord.’’* 

The next testimony, which we adduce from the first 
century, is that of Clement of Rome, supposed to be 
the friend and ‘“ fellow-laborer” of Paul, whom he 
commends to the Philippian church, who was one of 
the most distinguished Roman Christians, became pas- 
tor of the church in that city towards the close of the 


* See Bibliotheca Vet. Pat., tom. ii. p. 21. 


> 


? 
192 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


first century, and is said to have lived till the third 
year of the reign of Trajan, or about A. D. 100: “Of 
his writings, there are extant two epistles to the Co- 
rinthians. The first is generally admitted to be genu- 
ine, and to it Eusebius* has borne a very high testi- 
mony. #Of the second, the same early historian} says, 
“We know not that this is as highly approved as the 
former, and know not that it has been in use with the 
ancients.” He does not deny its existence, nor even 
its authenticity. All he says about it is, he knows not 
that it was as highly approved, or as much in use by 
the ancients.t In this epistle, Clement'says, “ Miser- 
able are they of doubtful mind and uncertain heart, 
who say (in reference to the promise of future delights 
and glory) ‘ All these things we have also heard from 
our fathers; but we, ese day after day, have 
seen none of these things.’ Ye fools! compare your- 
selves to the tree. ‘Take ye a vine: first indeed it 
casts off its leaves ; then it begins to bud; afterwards 
comes the sour grape; and then the ripe grape. So 
also hath my people borne agitation and tribulation ; 
but afterwards they shall receive the good things. 
Therefore, my brethren, let us not vacillate in our 
mind, but abidé in hope, that we may receive the re- 
ward. For he is faithful who hath promised that he 
would render to every one according to his works. 
If, therefore, we shall place righteousness before God, 
we shall enter into his kingdom, and receive the pro- 
mises which ear hath not heard, nor eye seen, and 
the things which have not entered into the heart of 


*Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. ch. 16.—Toérov δὴ οὖν τοῦ Komp 
ὁμολογουμένη pia ἐπιστολὴ φέρεται; μεγάλη τε καὶ θαυμασία, 

t Euseb. Hist. Eccles. lib. iii. ch. 88.----ἰΟυ μὴν ἔθ᾽ ὁμοίως + τῇ moves τᾶ 
καὶ ταυτην γνώριμον επισταμεθα, ὅτι μη δὲ τους ἀρχαίους αὑτὴ κεχρημενοῦς ἴσμεν. 


t Patres Apostol., vol. i. pp. 245-7, Oxf. ed. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 193 


man. Therefore, let us hourly expect the kingdom 
of God in love and righteousness, since we know not 
the day of the advent of God.” 

Here the kingdom of God is spoken of as future, 
and to be enjoyed, not after death, but at the coming 
_of Christ—an object of ardent and constant expecta- 
tion in this life. But lest the spuriousness of this 
second epistle of Clement be plead, it may suffice to 
remark, that almost the very same words oceur in 
the first epistle admitted to be genuine, differing only 
in the extent to which*the simile is carried, and the 
manner in which it is applied. ‘ Ye see how in a lit- 
tle time the fruit of the tree comes to maturity. Ofa 
truth, shortly and suddenly shall His will be accom- 
plished, the Scripture even testifying, that ‘He will 
quickly come and not tarry; and suddenly the Lord 
shall come into his temple, and the Holy One whom 
ye expect.”* The illustrations he afterwards. intro- 
duces from the succession of day to night, the stories 
related among the Arabs about the bird called phenix, 
and from the sower casting his seed into the ground, 
in order to set forth the resurrection, show plainly 
that this coming of the Lord, which he exhorted Chris- 
tians continually to expect, was not a spiritual com- 
ing, but his personal appearance at the resurrection, 
for the introduction of his kingdom. There is not the 
most remote hint of a temporal Millenium, consisting 
in 1,000 years’ religious prosperity before the coming 
of Christ, but that coming was the object of eric: 
diligent, daily expectation. : 

Thus also does Ignatius,t another of the apostolic 
fathersas they are called—who, according to Eusebius, 
succeeded Peter at Antioch, who died an illustrious 


* Patres Apostol., vol. i. pp. 97-99, Oxf. ed. 
t Patres Apostol., vol. ii. pp. 455-6, Oxford ed. 
ΤΊ" 


? 
194 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. , 


martyr, A. D. 107, and who, speaking in several of his 
epistles, of the expectation of Christ’s coming) and 
particularly in that to Polycarp, says: “It behoves 
us especially to endure-all things for God’s sake, that 
he also may endure us. Become more studious than 
you are. Consider the times: expect Him who is 
above time, the eternal invisible, for our sakes visi- 
ble.” The same expectation of Christ’s coming so 
commonly and forcibly urged by Christ and his apos- 
1165, continued to. be the expectation of their sut- 
cessors. ἐπ οἱ 

Polycarp, who was the angel of the church in 
Smyrna, to whom Christ, it is supposed, addressed 
one of his seven epistles by John, and who was or- 
dained by the latter,* to whom Eusebius bears the 
highest testimony, saying that he had been instructed 
by the apostles, and had familiar intercourse with 
many that had seen Christ, and whom, he says, he had 
himself seen, while he was.a youth, having lived toa 
great age, and died at last a martyr, A. Ὁ. 167—this 
pattern of orthodoxy,'as he was regarded by Eusebius, 
beside other allusions to the’ same subject, says, in his 
epistle to the Philippians, so therefore let us serve 
(Christ) with fear and all reverence, according as He 
commanded, and the apostles have preached the Gos- 
pel to us, and the prophets: who have heralded the ὁ 
advent of our Lord Jesus Christ, “being zealous of 
good works, abstaining from scandals and false breth- 
_ren, even those who hypocritically bear the name of 
the Lord, and who make vain men to err. For every 
one who confesseth not that Jesus Christ hath come 
in the flesh is Antichrist : and whosoever confesseth 
not the martyrdom of His cross is of the devil: and 


* See Spanheim’s Hist., p. 192. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


whosoever perverts the discourses of the 
own desires, and hath said there is neither a re 
tion nor a judgment, he is the first born of Satan’ 
“ΤΕ we please (the Lord) in this dispensation, »we wali 
also partake of that which is to come, according as 
He has promised us to raise us from the dead, and that 
if we demean ourselves worthy of Him and truly 
believe, we shall also reign with Him.” Ὁ 

-»Papias is the next writer of the first century, whose 
caisinowey we quote. He was bishop, or pastor, of 
Hierapolis in Phrygia, and supposed, by Irenzus, to 
have been instructed by Johnt the apostle. Eusebius 
says, he was a hearer of John, and associate of Poly- 
earp, and quotes from his historical work, in five books, 
not now extant, entitled an explanation or account of 
the Lord’s sayings or oracles. The following is Pa- 
pias’s own account of the authorities he refers to, as 
reported by Eusebius. ‘ Whatsoever I have at any 
time accurately ascertained and treasured up in my 
memory, as I have received it from the elders, I 
have recorded it in order to give additional confirma- 
tion to the truth by my testimony. For [ have never, 
like many, delighted to hear those that tell many 
things, but those that teach the truth, neither those 
that record foreign precepts, but those that are given 
from the Lord to our faith, and that come from the 
truth itself. But if 1 met with any one, who had been 
a follower of the elders anywhere, I made it a point 
to inquire, what were the declarations of the elders, 
what was said by Andrew, Peter or Philip, what by 
Thomas, James, John, Matthew, or any other of the 
disciples of our Lord ; what was said by Aristion, and 


* Patres Apostol., v. ii. pp. 498-501, Oxford ed. 
t Patres Apostol., v. ii. pp. 494-497, Oxford ed. 
ft Spanheim’s Hist., p. 194. 


? 
196 TRADITIONARY WISTORY. 


the presbyter John, disciples of the Lord, for I do not 
think I derived so much benefit from books, as from 
the living voice of those that are still surviving.” 
_ This™is the very method which should be adopted 
by, and these the essential qualifications of, a-faithful 
historian. What his language was in setting forth 
the faith of the apostles, and their cotemporaries, about 
the Millenium, and the kingdom of Christ, we do not 
know, but his statements come to us through a preju- 
diced channel, through Eusebius, who was a courtier 
and philosopher of the Platonic school, who lived 200 
years after Christ, and adopted and extolled the allegori- 
cal or mystical interpretation. The following, never- 
theless, is Eusebius’s account of Papias’s sentiments 
and interpretation of the Scriptures. ‘“ He says there 
would be a certain Millenium after the resurrection, and 
that there would be a corporeal sign of Christ on this 
very earth: which things, adds Eusebius, he appears 
to have imagined, as if they were authorized by the 
apostolic narrations, not understanding correctly those 
matters which they propounded mystically in their rep- 
resentations.’’* | 

It is worthy of remark here, that Eusebius does not 
impeach the veracity of Papias, who does not profess 
to discuss doctrines; but simply to give a narrative 
of the traditions he derived from those that conversed 
with the apostles, and which, he says, were, in the 
very words of the apostles themselves, for the truth 
and fidelity of which, he pledges himself. It is also 
worthy of remark, that Eusebius admits, that the plain 
and literal meaning of the apostolical narratives, 
would seem to sanction the views of Papias, because 
he charges him with taking the plain meaning, instead 


* Eusebius’s Hist., v. iii. p. 110. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 197 


of understanding them “mystically,” and by this means 
with being led into error. : 

‘Because Papias displayed no skill in the allegorical 
or mystical interpretation, Eusebius says he was very 
limited in his comprehension. That is, his millenarian- 
ism was proof of folly, according to Eusebius, whose 
principles of interpretation were so opposite; yet he 
admits that he was both eloquent and learned in the: 
Scriptures—a far better learning than the philesophy? 
of the schools. 

It is also still-more worthy of remark, that however 
foolish the views of Papias appeared to Eusebius, he 
_ was constrained to admit, that the great body of eccle-' 
siastical writers sammcdaa with Papias; and: he en- 
deavors to account for the fact, by his antiquity.:.““He 
was the cause,” says Eusebius, “why most of the ecele- 
siastical writers, urging the antiquity of the man, were 
carried away by the same error.’’* 

With the testimony of Papias we conclude that of 
the first century. In review of what has been ad- 
duced, and what shall be submitted in the next 
Spaere, the following facts, we think, are abundantly 
established. é 

1. That cotemporaneously, almost, with the pro- 
phets of the captivity, who are the most remarkable in 
the fulness and precision of their predictions, relative 
to the coming and kingdom of Christ, there arose the 
belief, that the Messiah would come, and personally 
appearing, raise the dead, and establish His kingdom 
in ie world. 

. That this belief was cwiaaiabeds and may be 
cian down, through the Jewish church, to the days 
of Christ, not in the legends of the nation, but in the 
influential views of the most devout and. godly of that 
people. 

* Eusebius’s Hist., lib. iii. p. 110. 


1 
198 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


3. That neither the Saviour, nor his apostles, ever 
undertook to deny or disown this belief, but, on the con- 
trary, used the very same technicalities and style of 
speech On the subject, with which the ears of the Jew- 
ish: church had been long familiar, holding forth the 
coming and kingdom of the Messiah in this world, as 
the grand inducement to faith and repentance, and 
making it:the very burden, the sum and substance ies 
their preaching. 

4. That immediately after their dail in the aoa 
line of their successors, and in the writings of all the 
fathers of the: first century that are extant, the same 
unbroken testimony is to: be found, in favor of the . 
literal interpretation of prophecy, as it held forth the 
approaching, personal, and visible coming of Christto 
judgment, and for the establishment of his kingdom, 
asi the great object of earnest and universal hope and 
expectation in the church of God. 

5. That nowhere throughout this whole period, do 
we meet with the least hint of a 1,000 years’ univer- 
sal: religious prosperity, or the conversion of the 
world, before Christ’s coming to judgment. 

6. And that even, by the testimony of its enemies, 
it appears to have been the general expectation of the 
church—which contributed to their self-denial and 
holiness and practice of Christian graces—that Christ 
would visibly come, and, having raised his saints, reign 
with them 1,000 years on the earth ; nor was it ever 
for a moment questioned, till a new style of interpret- 
ing the Scriptures—which, originating with Platonie 
philosophers, found favor with heretics, was com- 
mended by Eusebius, and admired and adopted by 
the learned—led the wise and philosophical to pour 
contempt upon the simplicity of the ancient faith, as 
the merest credulity, fostered by the wild and extrava- 
gant legends of the Jews. 


CHAPTER VIII. 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


Our examination of traditionary history, in the last 
chapter, brought us down to the close of the first cen- 
tury. Beginning with the prophets of the captivity, 
we traced the stream of tradition through two chan- 
nels: 1. The Jewish, flowing in the testimony of their 
Targums, their apocryphal historians, their. learned 
and pious Rabbis,. down to the days of Christ. 2. 
The profane, flowing down through the Gentile na- 
tions, in the writings of Zoroaster, the servant of 
Daniel, the instructor of Pythagoras, and the restorer 
of the Magian religion in Persia. 

These five things formed the object of ancient ex- 
pectation, and prevailed, to a greater or less degree, 
in greater or less distinctness, through the Oriental 
nations, and among the Greeks and: Romans. of .the 
West; viz. the coming of some illustrious being,—the 
destruction of the dominion of evil in this world,—the 
resurrection of the dead,—the dispensation of judg- 
ment,—and the consequent happiness of the world. 
This testimony, it was remarked, is not quoted, as 
evidence of any other value than to establish the fact, 
that the prophetical writings—as grammatically inter- 
preted in the traditionary explanations of the Jews, 
from the very days of the captivity—have made an 
extensive impression on the world, and may be traced, 
even to this day, among the Oriental sects and nations. 

We resume the chain of historical testimony, where 
we left it, at the close of the first century. 


: I 
200 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. | 


The first author, in the second century, whose testi- 
mony we quote, is Justin Martyr. He was born A. ὃ. 
89, and suffered martyrdom A. D. 163. He was‘in his 
early life cotemporary with Papias and Polycarp, was 
originally ‘a Platonic philosopher, but was converted 
to the Christian faith. He taught the gospel,” says 
Spanheim,* “αἱ Rome, with great success and bold- 
ness until he suffered martyrdom in the reign of An- 
toninus Pius. Many of his writings against the here- 
tics have perished. His genuine works are two 
apologies, and his dialogue with Trypho, the Jew, 
which are still extant.” 

Eusebius speaks in high terms of him, saying, 
“ This Justin has left us many monuments of a mind 
well stored with learning, and devoted to sacred 
things, replete with matter profitable in every re- 
spect.” + This learned and excellent writer, in his 
dialozue with Trypho, the Jew, on the advent of 
Christ, expresses himself in the most pointed terms, 
and quotes passage after passage, from the writings of 
Isaiah, and from the revelations of John, in proof of 
the visible coming of Christ to raise the dead, to es- 
tablish his kingdom, and to reign with his saints on 
the earth. : 

© ‘Tell me,” says T'rypho, “do you honestly allow 


*Spanh. Eccles. Annal.,p. 194.  {Euseb. Eccles. Hist., p. 137. 

t Kai 6 'Γρύφων πρὸς ravra ἔφη" εἶπον πρός σε, ὦ ἄνθρωπε, drt ἀσφαλὴς 
ἐν πᾶσι σπουδάζοις ἐιναι tats γραφαῖς προσπλεκύμενος. εἰπὲ di μοὶ, ἀληθῶς 
ὑμεῖς ἀνοικοδομηθῆναι τόν τῦπον Ἱερουσαλὴμ τῳῶτον ὁμολογεῖτε, καὶ συναχθῆσεο- 
θαι τὸν λαὸν μων, καὶ εὐφρανθῆναι civ ro Κριστῳ ἅμα τοις πατριάρχαις καὶ 
τοῖς προφήταις, καὶ τοις ἀπὸ τοῦ ἡμετέρου γενόμενοις, ἣ καὶ τῶν πρωσηλύτων 
γενομένων πρὶν ἐλθεῖν ὕμων τὸν Χριστὸν προσδοκάτε, ἤ ἕνα δόξηξ περικρατεῖν 
ἡμων ἐν ταῖς ζητήσεσι πρὸς τὸ ταυτα ὑμολογεῖν exwpnoats. Kaye εἶπον" 
ovy οὕτω τἄλας eyw, w Τρύφων, ὥς ἕτερα λέγειν παρ᾽ & φρονω. ὡμολογησα οὖν 
σοι καὶ πρότερον, brit εγὼ μὲν καὶ ἄλλοι πολλοὶ ravra φρονοῦμεν, ὡς και 
παντῶς εἐπίσασθε τοῦτο γενησύμενον᾽ πολλοὶς de dv καὶ των της καθαρᾶς και 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 901 


this Jerusalem will be rebuilt, and do you expect our 
nation will be gathered, and with joy be brought back, 
together with the Messiah, and the patriarchs, “ate 
prophets, and proselytes, before the coming of your 
Messiah ; or do you hold this that you may seem to 
triumph in argument 2” 

Justin, in reply, protests that he was honest in his 
sentiments, and that the Jew need not fear to be 
caught in a trap by what appeared to him a new and 
ingenious mode of argument. According to some 
copies, he admits that some Christians reputed ortho- 
dox, did not acknowledge (non agnoscere) these senti- 
ments. That this is the genuine reading, however, 
both’ Mede and Bishop Newton and Mr. Vint deny, 
affirming, what Mr. Homes, by a diligent examination 
of manuscript copies, has proved, that the word “ not” 


εὐσεβοῖς ὄντων χριστιανῶν γνωμῆς, TOVTO μὴ γνωρίζειν εσήμανα cot. Tots 
γὰρ λεγομένοις μὲν χριστιανοὶς, ὄντας de αθέοις καὶ ἀσηβεῖς dipeciwras, ὅτι 
κατὰ πάντα βλάσφημα και ἄθεα καὶ ἀνοητατα διδάσκουσιν, sdnwoa σοι. ὅτι δὲ 
οὐκ ep ὕμων μονων τοῦτο λέγειν pe ἐπιστασθε, τῶν γεγενημένων ἡμῖν λογων 
ἅπαντων, ὡς δύναμίς μου, σύνταξιν ποιήσομαι" ἐν οἷς καὶ τουτο δμολυγουντά pe 
ὅ καὶ πρὸς ὑμᾶς ὁμολογῶ, ἐεγράψω. Οὐ γάρ ἀνθρωποις μᾶλλον ἤ ανθρωπί- 
νοις διδάγμασιν ἁιρουμαι ἀκολουθεῖν, ἀλλα Θεῳ, και τοῖς παρ᾽ ἐκείνου διδάγμα- 
σιν, εἰ γάρ: και συνεβάλετε ὑμεῖς τισι λεγομένοις χριστιανοῖς, καὶ τοῦτο μὴ 
ὁμολογοῦσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ βλασφημεῖν τολμῶσι τὸν Θεὸν Αββραὰμ, καὶ τὸν ἴσαακ, 
καὶ τὸν Θεὸν Ἰακῶβ, οἵ καὶ λέγουσι μὴ εἶναι νεκρῶν ἀναστασιν, ἀλλὰ ἅμα τῳ 
ἀποθνήσκειν, τὰς ψυχὰς αὐτων ἀναλαμβάνεσθαι εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν, μη ὑπολάβητε 
αὐτοὺς χριστιανοὶς. ὥσπερ ουδὲ ἰουδαίοις, ἄν τις ορθῶς ἐξεταση, ὁμολογήσαιεν 
sivat τοὺς Σιαδδουκαίοις, ἤ τὰς ὁμοίας. αἵρεσας Tevioray, καὶ Μεριστῶν, και 
Ἐλιλαίων, καὶ Εἰλληνιανων, και Φαρισαίων βαπτιστῶν᾽ (καὶ μὴ ἀηδως 
ἀκούσητε μου πᾶντα ἁ φρονῶ λέγοντες) adda’ λεγομένοις μετα [Ιουδαίοις τε 
τέκνα ABoaap, και χείλεσιν δμολογοῦν τας τὸν Θεὸν, ὡς ἀυτος κέκραγεν ὃ 
Θεὺῦς, τὴν δέ καρδίαν πόῤῥω ἐχειν ἀπ᾽ αὐτου. ἐγὼ δὲ, τε εἴ τινές εἰσιν ὀρθο- 
γνώμενες kara πάντα χριστιανοὶ, ὃς σαρκὸς ἀναστασιν γενήσεσθαι ἐπιστάμεθα" 
καὶ χίλια ern ev ἱερουσαλημ οἰκοδυμηθείση καὶ κοσμηθείσῃ τε πλατυνθείσῃ, of 
προφῆται ἰεζεκιὴλ καὶ Ἡσαΐας, και of αλλοι ὁμολογουουσιν.----[ϑιϊηλ Mar- 
tyris Dialogus cum Tryphone Judeo. Op. Om. Paris Ed. See. 
80, pp. τ 1718." é 
1 


] 
202 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


is an interpolation, and that Justin Martyr affirmed that 
orthodox Christians universally believed it. He tells 
Trypho, ‘“‘ That some indeed called Christians, are in 
fact atheists, and impious heretics, because, in every 
way, they teach blasphemy, impiety, and folly.” He 
gives proof of his sincerity, and protests that he was 
“‘determined to follow not men, nor human authority, 
but God, and the doctrine taught by Him;” adding, 
4 Should you happen upon some who are salen Chris- 
tians, indeed, and yet are far from holding these sen- 
timents,” (which is a blow at the Platonism then be- 
ginning to creep into the church,) “ but even dare to 
assail the God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob with 
blasphemy, and say, ‘There is no resurrection of the 
dead ; but instantly when they die, their souls are re- 
ceived up into heaven,’ do not count these among Chris- 
tians, even as ¢hey are not Jews, if accurately consid- 
ered, who are called Sadducees, and the. like sects of 
Genistz, Meriste, Galileans, Hellenists,. Pharisees, and 
Baptists, and others, (that [ may not tire you to hear 
me express all I think,) but under the name of Jews 
and sons of Abraham, they worship God, as he accuses 
them, with their lips only, while their heart is far from 
him. But [, and all that are orthodox Christians, are 
acquainted with the resurrection of the body, and the 
thousand years in Jerusalem, that shall be rebuilt, 
adorned and enlarged, as the prophets Ezekiel, Isaiah, 
and others, declare.” Then he quotesa variety of pas- 
sages from Isaiah, commenting on them, and conclud- 
ing with this testimony from the book of Revelations. 
‘¢ Moreover, a certain man among us, whose name is 
John, being one of the twelve apostles.of Christ, in that 
Revelation which was shown to him, prophesied that 
those who believe in our Christ shall fulfil a thousand 
years at Jerusalem ; and after that the general, and ina 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 203 


word, the everlasting resurrection and last judgment 
of all together.* | Ε 

This testimony scarcely needs a comment, but it is 
the more valuable, inasmuch as it is confessed by Dr. 
Murdock, translator of Mosheim’s Ecclesiastical His- 
tory, that his writings are numerous, erudite, all of 
them theological, all. of a polemical ‘cleevacter, and, 
“being the first of the learned divines, and a very 
zealous and active Christian, he merits our particular 
attention.” + It proves what were Justin’s principles of 
interpretation. Although once a Platonic philoso- 
pher, ‘‘ having had successive masters in philosophy, 
Stoic, Peripatetic, Pythagorean, and lastly Platonic,” 
he had received the Scriptures, and interpreted the 
prophecies in their plain, literal import, and not as 
mystically or allegorically understood. It proves, also, 
what was his judgment in reference to those who did 
not so receive and believe the Scriptures. He de- 
nounced them as heretics, and exhorted Trypho to 
shun them. 

The next author of the second century whose 
testimony we cite, is Ireneus. He was successor 
to Pothinus,t as pastor of the church of Lyons, about 
A. D. 171, and was martyred A. D. 202 or 208. He 
was a disciple of Polycarp, of whom Irenzus§ says, 
that “ having been instructed by the apostles, he always 
taught what he had learned from them, what the 


* Brooks’ Elements of Scriptural Interpretation, p. 38. First 
Report of Second Advent Gen. Conf., p. 15. 

¢ Murdock’s Tr. of Mosheim, vol. i. p. 118. 

t Seriptor. Eccles. Hist. Lit. Gulielmi Cave. pp. 39, 40. 

ὃ Kai περὶ τοῦ Kvpiov τινα ἦν ἃ παρ᾽ ἐκεινων ακηκόει, καὶ περὶ τῶν δυναμεων 
αὐτοῦ, καὶ περὶ της διδασκαλίας, ws παρὰ τῶν αὐτοπτῶν τῆς ζωῆς τοῦ λόγου 
παρειληφὼς ὃ Ἰ]ολύκαρπος, ἀπήγγελλε πάντα συμφωνα ταις γραφαις.--- ΕἾ 88- 
ment Epist.ad Florinum. Irenei, p. 464. Oxon. Ed. 


' ῖ 
204. TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


church had handed down, and what is the true 
doctrine.” He has left behind him, what Mosheim 
calls “a splendid monument of antiquity,”* a work in 
five books against the Valentinian heresy, originally 
written in Greek, but preserved only in a Latin trans- 
lation, of rather barbarous style and diction. In this 
work, Irenzus having noticed certain heretical opinions 
on the subject, springing from ignorance of the 
mystery of the resurrection and of the kingdom of the 
just, proceeds to state the true doctrine. “It is 
fitting,” says he, ‘‘ that the just rising at the appearing 
of God, should, in the renewed state, receive the 
promise of the inheritance which God covenanted to the 
fathers, and should reign in it; and that then should 
come the final judgment.” This fitness he sets forth, 
confirming his views by a reference to the promise 
which God made to Abraham, concluding, ‘‘ Thus, there- 
fore, as God promised to him the inheritance of the 
earth, and he received it not during the whole time he 
lived in it, it is necessary that he should receive it, 
together with his seed, that is, with such of them. as 
fear God and believe in him—in the resurrection “οὐ 
the just.”+ Having so concluded, he goes on to show 


* Murdock’s Tr. of Mosheim, vol. i. p. 120. 

+ Oportet justos primos in conditione hac que renovatur, ad 
apparitionem Dei resurgentes recipere promissionem heereditatis, 
quam Deus promisit patribus, et regnare in ea: post deinde fiert 
judicium. In qua enim conditione laboraverunt, sive afflicti sunt, 
omnibus modis probati per sufferentiam, justum est in ipsa recipere 
eos fructus sufferenticee ; et qua conditione interfecti sunt propter 
Dei dilectionem, in ipsa vivificare: et in qua conditione servitutem 
sustinuerunt in ipsa regnare eos.—Repromisit autem Deus heeredi- 
tatem terree Abrahee et semini ejus: et neque Abraham neque semen 
ejus, hoc est, qui ex fide justificantur, nunc sumunt in ea heredi- 
tatem; accipient autem eam in resurrectione justorum.—TIrenei, 
lib. v., adversus Hereses, pp. 452, 453. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 205 


that Christ, and believers or true Christians, being of 
the seed of Abraham, and partakers of the promise, 
according to the apostles’ showing, and having as yet 
enjoyed no inheritance in the land of promise, will 
undoubtedly receive it at the resurrection of the 
just. In his 34th chapter he quotes Isaiah, Ezekiel, 
Daniel, Jeremiah, and Revelations, in support of these 
views, showing that he adopted the same principles 
of interpretation with Polycarp, and Papias, and 
Justin Martyr, and expected the personal visible 
coming of Christ, for the resurrection of his saints, . 
and for the establishment of his kingdom on the earth. 
In his 35th and 36th chapters he says, that in the end 
of Antichrist’s time, “ the Lord will come from Heaven 
with clouds, in the glory of his Father, and hurl him 
and his followers into the lake of fire; but he will 
introduce the times of his righteous reign, 1. 6. the 
rest, the seventh day sanctified, and will restore to 
Abraham the promised inheritance, in which kingdom, 
the Lord says, many shall come from the east and the 
west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and 
Jacob.” He identifies the kingdom of Heaven and 
the Millenium, and the times of the kingdom he makes 
to be, when consequent on the coming of Christ, the 
earth shall be renovated, and Jerusalem that now is, 
be rebuilt after the fashion of the Jerusalem above,* 
but distinct from that heavenly city, which John in 
vision, saw descending out of Heaven to earth. 
Tatian, a rhetorician and disciple of Justin Martyr, 
who flourished about A. D. 170, after the death of his 
master, swerved from the faith, and became the founder 


* Nihil allegorizari potest, sed omnia firma ef vera, et sub- 
stantiam habentia, ad fruitionem hominum justorum a Deo facta.— 
Tren. adv. Heres., lib. v. ch. 35. p. 460. 

188 


1 
206 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


of a rigorous sect called Encratites. There is nothing 
in his writings on the subject of the Millenium. 
While he professes his belief.in the resurrection of 
the body and a day of judgment, he says nothing 
about any great glory and religious prosperity of the 
church, before the coming of Christ. Nothing can be 
inferred from his writings as to the views of the 
churches on the subject of the kingdom of Heaven. 

Athenagoras, pronounced by Dr. Murdock to have 
been one of the most elegant and able writers the 
church has produced, but scarcely mentioned by any 
of the fathers, belongs to this century. It is reported 
that he was converted to Christianity by reading the 
Scriptures with a design to confute them. He was 
principal of the school at Alexandria, and in A. D. 177, 
wrote an apology for the Christian religion addressed 
to the Emperors Aurelian and Commodus, descanting 
on the same topics, and employing the same arguments 
with Justin Martyr. He also wrote another work on 
the subject of the resurrection, designed to meet the 
philosophical objections of the heathen against the 
doctrine of the resurrection of the body, and contain- 
ing no intimation as to the time, place, circumstances, 
or condition of the resurrection. There is no direct 
testimony in his writings on the subject of the. pre- 
phecies; nor is there any intimation given of an 
allegorical Millenium, a period of great religious pros- 
perity prior to the resurrection, such as the spiritualist 
accounts the hope of the church and the world. This 
writer, therefore, is no witness either way. 

Tertullian and Clement of Alexandria are the only 
writers of this century which we deem it necessary par- 
ticularly to notice. They properly belong, as authors, 
to the second century, though they did not die till 
some time in thethird. Tertullian is the first Christian 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 207 


writer in Latin, whose works have come down to us. 
“He was the son of a pagan centurion of proconsular 
rank, and born at Carthage, A. D. 160. He was bred 
to the law, but becoming a Christian, was made a 
proselyte in the church of Carthage, where he appears 
to have spent his whole life.’ Mosheim* says, 
« Which were the greatest, his excellences or defects, 
it is difficult to say. He possessed great genius, but 
it was wild and unchastened. His piety was active 
and fervent, but likewise gloomy and austere. He 
had much learning and knowledge, but lacked 
discretion and judgment: he was more acute than 
solid.” 

Milner speaks in very harsh strains of him, particu- 
larly on account of his paying so much attention to 
the dress of Christians and their style of living, urging 
simplicity and nonconformity to the pagan fashions 
and extravagance. “All his writings,’ he says, 
‘betray the same sour, monastic, harsh, and severe 
turn of mind.” Yet, after having freely censured and 
severely condemned the man, he says, “ The abilities 
of Tertullian as an orator and a scholar, are far from 
being contemptible. It is not for us to condemn, 
after all, a man who certainly honored Christ, defended 
several fundamental Christian doctrines, took large 
pains in supporting what he took to be true religion, 
and ever meant to serve God.”+ Spanheim says that 
“he occupies a place in the first rank of the fathers, 
in erudition, acumen, and eloquence.’’{ 

The testimony of Tertullian is very explicit. ‘“ We 
also,” says he, ‘“confess- that a kingdom is promised 
us on earth, before that in Heaven, but in another state, 


* Murdock’s Tr. of Mosheim’s Hist., vol. i. p. 122, note. 
t Milner’s Ch. Hist., vol. i. p. 270. 
- t Spanheim’s Hist., p. 195. 


de, 


᾿ 
508 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


viz. after the resurrection; for it will be 1,000 years 
in a city of divine workmanship, viz. Jerusalem brought 
down from Heaven ; and this city Ezekiel knew, and 
the apostle John saw,”* &¢c. “This is the city provided 
of God to receive the saints in the resurrection, 
wherein to refresh them with an abundance of all 
spiritual good things, in recompense of those which, 
- in the world, we have either despised or lost. For it 
is both just and worthy of God, that his servants 
should there triumph and rejoice where they have 
been afflicted for his name’s sake. © This is the manner 
of the heavenly kingdom.”+ Again he says, “‘ After the 
1,000 years, in which is included the resurrection of 
the saints, rising earlier or later according to their 
merits, then we, being changed in a moment into 
angelic matter, shall be transported to the heavenly 
kingdom.”{ Moreover, he says, that it was customary 


* Nam et confitemur in terra nobis regnum repromissum sed 
ante coelum, sed alio statu, utpote post resurrectionem in mille 
annos in civitate divini operis Jerusalem ceelo delata, quam et 
apostolus matrem nostram sursum designat, et πολιτευμα nostrum, 
id est, municipatum in ceelis esse pronuntians, alicui utique ccelesti 
civitatieumdeputat. Hanc et Ezechiel novit, et Apostolus Joannes 
Vidit, et qui apud fidem nostram est novee Prophetiz sermo testatur, 
ut etiam effigiem civitatis ante representationem ejus conspectui 
futuram in signum predicant.—Tertullian adv. Marcionem, liber 
iii. page 680. 

+t Hune dicimus excipiendis resurrectione sanctis, et refovendis 
omnium bonorum utique spiritualium copia in compensationem 
eorum que in seculo vel despeximus vel amisimus, a.Deo prospectam, 
siquidem et justum et Deo dignum illis quoque exgultare famulos 
ejus, ubi sunt et afflicti in nomine ipsius.—Adv. Merc. lib. iii, 
cap. 24, on which Mede remarks (N. B. hic voeat quod in terris 
futurum asserit, utpote de ccelo sine ceelitis, vel in quo ccelestis e 
angelica vivetur vita.) B. iii. p. 618. 

t Post cujus mille annos, intra quam etatem concluditur sanc- 
torum resurrectio, pro meritis maturius vel tarditiis resurgentiums 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 209 


for Christians in his times to pray “that they might 
have part in the first resurrection ;” and it is confessed 
by Cyprian, of the following century, that it was the 
belief that those who suffered martyrdom for Christ, 
should have their part in the first resurrection, which 
made them to glory in their persecutions, and even 
ambitious of suffering and dying for Christ. 

The literal interpretation of the prophecies was: 
obviously, that adopted by Tertullian,* who stands 
acknowledged to have been the great defender of the 
Christian faith in the second century. 

The last writer of note in this century, was Cle- 
ment, of Alexandria. He was, by his own confession, 
a scholar of Pantenus, who, although professing 
Christianity, and the first master of whom we have in- 
formation in the Christian school at Alexandria, said to 
be established by Mark, nevertheless retained the title 
of the stoic philosopher. ‘This sect of stoic philoso- 
phers,” Milner says, ‘“‘ were a sort of romantic pretend- 
ers to perfection, which doctrine flattered human pride, 


tune et mundi destructione et judicii conflagratione commissa, 
demutati in atomo; in angelicam substantiam, scilicet per illud 
incorruptele superindumentum transferemur in celeste regnum.— 
Tertullian adv. Marcionem, lib. iii. ch. 24. page 680. 

* We give some further testimony from Tertullian. ‘ Etiam in* 
Apocalypsi Joannis ordo temporum sternitur, quem Martyrum quo- 
que anime sub altari ultionem et judicium flagitantes sustinere 
didicerunt; ut prius et orbist de pateris angelorum plagas suas 
ebibat, et prostituta illat civitas a decem regibus dignos exitus re- 
ferat, et§ Bestia Antichristus cum suo Pseudopropheta certamen. 
Ecclesiz Dei inferat, atque ita Diabolo in|| abyssum interim rele- 
gato, PRIM RESURRECTIONIS prerogativa de soliis ordinetur ; 
dehine et igni dato, universalis resurrectionis censura de libris 
judicetur.— De Resurrectione Carnis. Cap. 25. 


*Ap.6. f Ap. 15,16. fAp.17. § Ap. 19. 
|| Ap. 20. See also, adv. Hermogenem, cap. 11; quoted by Mede, 
p- 619, 


210 TRADITIONARY ΗΝ τ 


but was surely ill adapted to our natural imbecility, 
and the views of innate depravity. ‘The combination 
of this with Christianity must have debased the divine 
doctrine very much, inthe system of Pantenus; and 
although his instructions clouded the light of the gos- 
pel, among those who were disposed implicitly to fol- 
’ low his dictates, yet it is not improbable but that many 
of the simple illiterate Christians there, might happily 
escape the. infection, and preserve, unadulterated, the 
genuine simplicity of the faith of Christ. The bait of 
reasoning pride lies more in the way of the learned, 
and in all ages they are more prone to snatch at it,”* 

Clemens was of the same philosophical cast of mind 
with his master. Justin Martyr, as we have observed, 
though essentially orthodox in his faith, was among 
the first to sanction a philosophizing spirit, and was 
commended for his learning. However innocent it 
proved in him, it did not remain so in others. Cle- 
ment avowed that the Gentile philosophy was impor- 
tant to. prepare the way, and lay the foundation for 
Christianity. 

Dr. Murdock, in his notes to his translation of Mo- 
sheim’s Ecclesiastical History, says, ‘‘ Clement had 
vast learning, a lively imagination, great fluency, con- 
siderable discrimination, and was a bold and indepen- 
dent speculator. No one of the fathers, except Ori- 
gen, has been more censured in modern times for an 
excessive attachment to philosophy, or metaphysical 
theology. His education, and the atmosphere in 
which he lived, led him towards Platonism and Stoi- 
cism. His great error was, that he overrated the 
value of philosophy or human reason, as a guide in 
matters of religion. He also indulged his imagina- 


* Milner’s Eccl. Hist., vol. i. p. 276. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 211 


tion, as all the learned of his age did, to excess, and 
construed the Bible allegorically and fancifully.’* 
We need not, therefore, expect to find much in his 
writings, nor anything very distinct, on the subject of 
the coming and kingdom of Christ ; for the simplicity 
of faith on these themes, is and has always been im- 
paired by human philosophy. A modern author says 
of him, “ This writer seems to me the most vapid of 
the fathers, having no salt in him; and though quot- 
ing the pure word, yet losing it again instantly as a 
man does the fashion of his face—the moment he 
turns from the glass. I have no pleasure in his pages. 
He says much more of Plato than of Christ, and takes 
notice, neither of the Millenium nor of the coming of 
Christ, nor of the judgment, nor scarcely of the king- 
dom of heaven.”+ Yet even this author, in his ad- 
dress to the heathen, betrays the influence of what we 
have seen was the general belief of the Christian 
church in the first and second centuries, viz. that the 
kingdom of heaven had not yet arrived. ‘ Therefore 
Jesus cries aloud, personally urging us, because the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand; he converts men by 
fear.” This remark proves that he regarded the king- 
dom of heaven, as we have seen the prophets and tra- 
ditions testify, to be introduced by judgment, so that 
the prospect of its approach to mankind generally, 
was more an object of terror than joy, and therefore 
an efficient means of exciting their fears, and, through 
fear, of converting them from the error of thoi ways. 
The doctrine of the kingdom of heaven, as advocated 
by the spiritualists, can in no sense be said to appeal 
directly to men’s fears, and, therefore, notwithstanding 


* Murdock’s Translation of Mosheim, vol. i. pp. 121, 122. 
+ Ward’s History and Doctrine of the Millenium, p. 17. 


. Ἷ 
212 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


al]. Clement’s philosophy and mystification, his ideas 
of that kingdom must have been radically different. 
His language is perfectly intelligible and forcible, 
however, according to the views of the literalists, 
who apprehend the Scriptures to teach that the king- 
dom of heaven is to be introduced by the persopal, 
visible coming of Christ, and terrible visitations of 
divine judgment on the wicked: It is the very argu- 
ment of Peter when he says, “ The end of all things 
is at hand; be ye therefore sober and watch unto 
prayer:* and if ye call on the Father, who, without 
respect of persons, judgeth according to every man’s 
work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear.” + 

The other writers of this century, whose works are 
extant, are few, and the object of their writings seems 
to have been, either to offer an apology for the Chris- 
tian religion in opposition to pagan infidelity, or to 
confute some particular heresy. Of this description 
were the Apologies of Quadratus, bishop of Athens, 
and of Aristides, his cotemporary, an eloquent Chris- 
tian philosopher of that city, which made such an 
impression on the Emperor Adrian, to whom they 
were presented, that Lampridius says he intended to 
have built a temple for Christ. 

To these may be added the names of Agrippa Cas- 
tor, of Athanagoras, Pantenus, Melito, Claudius Apol- 
linarius, Theophilus, Serapion of Antioch, and per- 
haps Hermias, Philip of Gortyra, Modestus, Miltiades, 
and Apollonius, most of whose writings are lost, and 
whose testimony, therefore, cannot be obtained. 

In closing up the testimony of this period, it is 
worthy of notice, as Mr. Brooks has stated, that, 


* 1 Peter, 4.7. ‘ 1 Peter, 1. 17. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY: 213: 


although Dr. Hamilton, of Strathblaine, in his work 
against Millenarians, has said, that the principles of 
Millenarianism were opposed and rejected, by almost 
every father of the church, with the exception of Bar- 
nabas, Clement, and others whom he mentions, he does 
not seem to have been aware, that his numerous ex- 
ceptions are almost the whole of those whose works 
have been preserved down to the time of Origen. 
‘“‘He may be safely challenged to adduce one single 
passage in any father, during that period, opposing or 
rejecting the view. ‘The utmost that can be said of 
any is, that they do not mention the subject ; when 
they do advert to it, they support and maintain the 
view that has been here given.’’* ~ 

To the testimony of Christian ΤΕΡΉ Κρ in the first 
and second centuries, it may be proper, before we 
pass to that of the third and later centuries, to add 
that of profane history. Eusebius quotes a passage 
from. the writings of Hegesippus, a converted Jew of 
the second century, to whom he bears honorable testi- 
mony as an historian, giving an account of his writ- 
ings, and showing what impression the doctrine of 
Christ’s coming and kingdom made upon the mind of the 
emperor Domitian, who, in the year A.D. 93 or 94, au- 
thorised the second base and cruel persecution against 
Christians ; and, during which, the Apostle John was 
banished to the island of Patmos, where he wrote the 
book of Revelations. 

The immediate cause of this persecution, according 
to Hegesippus, was the alarm of the emperor, at the 
appearance of Christ, which, he says, was as great as 
that of Herod, whose conduct he imitated, seeking, 
especially, by murdering the kindred of Christ accord- 


͵ 


* El. Proph. Int., p. 36. 
19 


1 
214 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


ing to the flesh, and those of the Jews of the lineage 
of David, to prevent the appearance of any aspirant 
to his throne. He is related to have had an interview 
with some of the relatives of the Saviour, and that 
when he found they expected the appearance of their 
deceased Saviour, and the kingdom of heaven at the 
end of the. world, he dismissed them as eonteeons, 
and ordered the persecution to cease.* 

Gibbon has noticed this fact at some length, alia 
Mosheim also. It is of value, as collateral testi- 
mony, showing what were the expectations of Chris- 
tians, and their style of speech at that time, in relation 
to the coming and kingdom of Christ. The language 
of Gibbon is well worthy of being quoted on the -sub- 
ject.t “It was universally believed,” he says, “ that 
the end of the world, and the kingdom of heaven, were 
at hand. The near approach of this wonderful event 
had been predicted by the apostles; the tradition of 
it was preserved by their earliest disciples, and those 
who understood, in their literal sense, the discourses 
of Christ himself, were obliged to expect the second 
and glorious coming of the son of man in the clouds, 
before that generation was totally extinguished, which 
had beheld his humble condition upon earth.” This 
is rather Gibbon’s own version of the matter than a 
faithful report of the actual views of Christians. 
They did, indeed, look for, the speedy coming of 
Christ, but they did not feel themselves bound to give 
the same meaning to the Saviour’s use of the word 
ἐς veneration” which this sneering historian has done. 

** The ancient and popular doctrine of the Mille- 
nium,” continues Gibbon, “ was intimately connected 
with the second coming of Christ.” ap ges stated 


* Euseb. Hist. Eccles., lib. iii. ch. 19. 
t Hist. of the Decline aad Fallof the Rom. Emp., vol. ii. pp. 25, 26. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 215 


the views we have already quoted, of the ancient 
Jewish and Christian expectations, founded on the 
prophecies relative to the Millenium, though with his 
own gloss; he adds,“ the assurance of such a Millenium 
was carefully inculcated by a succession of fathers, 
from Justin Martyr and Irenzus, who conversed with © 
the immediate disciples of the apostles, down to Lac- 
tantius, who was preceptor to the son of Constantine. 
Though it might not be universally received, it ap- 
pears to have been the reigning sentiment of the ortho- 
dox believers ; and it seems so well adapted to the 
desires and apprehensions of mankind, that it must 
have, contributed, in a very considerable degree, to 
the progress. of the Christian faith. But when the 
edifice of the church was almost completed the tem- 
porary support was laid aside. The doctrine of 
Christ’s reign on the earth was, at first, treated as a 
profound allegory, was considered, by degrees, as a 
doubtful and useless opinion, and was at length re- 
jected; as the absurd invention of heresy and fanati- 
cism. A mysterious prophecy, which still forms a 
part of the sacred canon, but which was thought to 
favor the exploded sentiment, has very narrowly es- 
caped the proscription of the church.’’* | 

From this unbroken chain of testimony, during the 
first and second centuries, in favor of the pre-millenial 
coming of Christ, to eoabliek his kingdom on the — 
earth, we pass to the third. Gibbon has correctly 
stated the case. It was not till two centuries had 
passed away, that anything unfavorable to this be- 
lief seems to have been entertained in the primitive 
church. Toward the close of the second century, the 


* Gibbon’s History of the Decline and Fall ofthe Roman Empire: 
vol. i. pp. 411-413. 


. 


1 
216 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


allegorical style of interpretation began to find favor. 
A tendency to it had gradually manifested itself. 
Theophilus of Antioch, who died A. D. 182 or 183, 
displayed a great fondness for allegorical and fanciful 
interpretations, and founded many of his arguments 
in vindication of Christianity on them, assuming that 
many things, both in nature and revelation, were of 
typical import, confounding analogy and allegory with 
types.* It is not surprising that he, and other apolo- 
gists for Christianity, who adopted this method, 
should have failed to make any great impression on 
the minds of pagan unbelievers. 

= Pantenus, of whom we havealready spoken, as having 
introduced the Platonic philosophy into the Alexan- 
drian school, exerted a powerful influence on the minds 
of his pupils, among whom were Clement of Alexandria 
and Origen, both of whose writings contributed 
greatly to form the taste for the allegorical or mysti- 
cal style of interpretation. Nothing, however, ap- 
pears in the writings opposed to the millenarian views 
of the personal coming of Christ and his kingdom on 
the earth. There were differences of opinion among 
many, about the enjoyments and the employments in 
the millenial state, some describing the happiness in 
more sensual strains than others. “ That the Savi- 
our,” says Mosheim, “is to reign 1,000 years among 
men, before the end of the world, had been believed 
by many in the preceding (second) century, without 
offence to any: all, however, had not explained the 
doctrine in the same manner, nor indulged hopes of 
the same kind of pleasures during that reign. In 
this century (i. e. third) the millenarian doctrines fell 
into disrepute through the influence, especially, of 


* Murdock’s Tr. of Mosheim’s Ece. Hist., vol. i. p. 121.- - 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 217 


Origen, who strenuously opposed it, because it con- 
travened some of his opinions. But Nepos, an Egyp- 
tian bishop, attempted to revive its authority, im a 
work written against the Allegorists, as he contemptu- 
ously styled the opposers of the Millenium. The 
book and its arguments were approved by many in the 
province of Arsinoe, and particularly by Coracion, a 
presbyter of some respectability and influence. But 
Dionysius of Alexandria, a disciple of Origen, allayed 
the rising storm, by his oral discussions and his two 
books on the divine promises.” ἢ 

This is Mosheim’s account of the rise of Anti-mil- 
lenarian views, whom Gibbon accuses of a want of 
candor in what he has written on the subject, having 
referred its origin to Jewish fables, and supposed that 
Christian doctors received or tolerated it, because 
they hoped, by it, to make the Jews more willing to 
embrace Christianity. Dr. Murdock, the American 
translator of Mosheim, says that Dr. Walch, a Ger- 
man writer, admits that the doctrine had a Bible 
origin, but that the explanation of it, from which he (Dr. 
M.) dissents, was Jewish. We may hereafter have 
occasion to notice this subject more critically ; at 
present it may suffice to say, that gradually, as piety 
decayed in the primitive church, more or les’ of sen- 
sual enjoyment was comprehended in the descriptions 
which were given of the pleasures of the kingdom of 
Heaven; and thence a prejudice was excited, which 
became very strong, in the minds of those whose ideas 
of holiness had been impaired, and which, through the 
influence of Gnosticism, they were led to believe, con- 
sisted mainly in the subjugation of the senses, and 
especially in chastity and the extirpation of the sexual 
appetite. | 


* Murdock’s Tr. of Mosheim’s aes Hist., ἫΝ i. pp. 185, 180. 
19* 


1 


218 TRADITIONARY HISTORY... 


Origen had these ideas of holiness, and emasculated 
himself to attain to it, and therefore could not look 
favorably on any view of Christ’s corporeal presence 
and millenia] reign on the earth, which admitted those 
yet in the flesh to be, in any way, included im it, or 
that recognized the holiness in the marriage relation. 
In order to estimate rightly the objections of such 
men as Origen, against what they call the sensual 
character of the millenarian views, it is necessary to 
examine carefully their ideas of the nature of holiness, 
and to, discriminate, in examining the millenial views, 
between the pleasures of the millenial state appro- 
priated to the risen saints, and those appropriated to 
that portion of mankind who, during that state, shall 
survive the terrible convulsions, and remain in the 
flesh, and over whom, and their offspring, the sway 
of the heavenly kingdom is to be extended.* The 
confounding these things has doubtless led to much 
error and prejudice, and prepared the way for offen- 
sive sensual descriptions of the heavenly state. 

“The first open opposer of Chiliasm that we meet with 
was Caius, a teacher in the church of Rome, towards 
the end of the second century. On this ground he 
denied that the Apocalypse was written by John, and. 
ascribed it rather to Cerinthus. But he effected very 
little.” + Yet this old and exploded story has of late years 
been revived, and some modern Anti-millenarians have, 
in their profound ignorance of the subject, pronounced 


* Dr. Whitby, the originator, as we shall presently show, of the 
modern doctrine of the Millenium, has been very, and culpably, 
neglectful here, having taken the representations of mille- 
narian views in the primitive church, made by avowed enemies, 
and condemned them on the authority of Origen and Dionysius 
Alexandrinus, both prejudiced witnesses in this matter. 


+ Murdock’s Trans. of Mosheim’s Ecc. Hist., vol. i. p. 186. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. _ 298 


Cerinthus, the heretic, to have been the author of 
millenarian views. ‘ Origen,” says Dr. Murdoch, 
“was a more powerful opposer of the doctrine. He 
did not, like Caius, deny the canonical authority of 
the Apocalypse, but explained the passages in it, which 
described the millenial reign of Christ, allegorically, 
as referring to spiritual delights suited to the nature 
of spirits raised to perfection, and then to be enjoyed, 
not on the earth, but in the world to come.’’* 

Of Caius, Mede says, “" Eusebius, who found out one 
Caius to father it upon Cerinthus, deserves no credit. 
He was a party, and one of those which did his best 
to undermine the authority of the pocalypse. Nor 
did any know of any such Caius but from his relation ; 
and, if there were any such, he should seem to be one 
of the heretics called Alogi, who denied both St. 
John’s Gospel and Apocalypse, as is testified in Epi- 
* phanius ; and their time jumps with the age which Eu- 
sebius assigns to Caius. Yet I deny not but some 
might maintain very carnal and intolerable conceits 
about this regnum of a thousand years, as the Maho- 
metans do about their paradise; but these are not 
to be imputed unto those primitive fathers and ortho- 
dox Christians.” | 

Origen was the first who gave form, and sym- 
metry, and system to the allegorical interpretation. 
The great influence of his learning and talents soon 
gave it authority. He was born A. D. 185, and died 
A.D. 254. His learning, labors, writings, and proofs 
of ardor and sincerity, are wonderful. “ His genius,” 
says Spanheim,{ “‘ was too luxuriant and inclined to 
allegory: and he fell into several doctrinal errors, 
ἜΚ Murdock’s Trans. of Mosheim’s Ecc. Hist., vol. i. p. 186. 

{ Mede’s Works, lib. iii. p. 602. 

t Spanheim’s Hist., p. 219. 


i Ἷ 
220 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. + 


which afterwards supplied fuel for the flames of dis- 
cord, and produced deplorable effects in the church.” 

-“ He was first,” says Mosheim, “ among those who 
have found, in the Sacred Scriptures, a secure retreat 
for all errors and idle fancies. As this most ingenious 
man could see no feasible method of vindicating, what 
is said in the Scriptures, against the cavils of the here- 
tics, and the enemies of Christianity, provided he 
interpreted the language of the Bible literally, he con- 
cluded, that he must expound the sacred volume in 
the way in which the Platonists were accustomed to 
explain the history of their gods. He therefore taught, 
that the words, in many parts of the Bible, convey no 
meaning at all; and in some places where he acknow- 
ledged there was some meaning in the words, he 
maintained, that under the things there expressed, 
there was contained a hidden and concealed sense, 
which was much to be preferred to the literal mean-* 
ing of the words. And this hidden sense it is, that 
he searches after in his commentaries, ingeniously 
indeed, but perversely and generally to the entire neg- 
lect and contempt of the literal meaning.’”’* 

We think it proper to give, here, a more minute 
account of his system of interpretation, which has 
done so much to neutralise the influence of the Sacred 
Scriptures in the world. His system of philosophy 
could not be reconciled with the Sacred Scriptures, 

except by a resort to allegories, and therefore they 
must be allegorically interpreted. His Platonic idea 
of a twofold world, a visible and invisible, the one 
emblematic of the other—or according to the philoso- 
phy and metaphysics of Noble—analogically related, 
led him to search for a figurative description of the 
invisible world, in the Biblical history of the nations 


* Murdock’s Translation of Mosheim, v. i. p. 181. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 221 


of the earth. He thought that he honored the Sacred 
Scriptures by considering them different from all 
other compositions, and containing hidden mysteries, 
a conceit that has done much for ignorance and 
mysticism. His general principles of imterpretation 
resolve themselves into the following positions, as 
stated by Dr. Murdock. 1. The Sacred Scriptures re- 
semble man. As a man consists of three parts, a 
rational mind, a sensitive soul, and a visible body, so 
the Scriptures have a threefold sense, a literal sense 
corresponding with, the body, a moral sense analo- 
gous to the soul, and a mystical or spiritual sense 
corresponding with the rational mind. 2. As the body 
is the baser part of man, so the Jiteral is the less 
worthy sense of Scripture. And as the body often 
betrays men into sin, so the literal sense often leads 
us into error. 3. Yet the literal sense is not wholly 
useless. 4. They who would see further into the Serip-- 
tures than the common people, must search out the 
moral sense. 5. And the perfect, or those who have 
attained to the highest degree of blessedness, must 
also investigate the spiritual sense. 6. The moral 
sense of Scripture instructs us relative to the changes 
in the mind of man, and gives rules for regulating his 
heart and life. 7. The spiritual sense acquaints us 
with the nature and-state and history of the spiritual 
world. For, besides this material world, there is a 
spiritual world, composed of two parts, the heavenly and 
the earthly. The earthly mystical, or spiritual world, 
is the Christian church on earth: the heavenly mystical 
world is above, and corresponds, in all its parts, with 
the lower world, which was formed after its model. 
8. As the Scriptures contain the history of the twe- 
fold mystical world, so there is a twofold mystic 
sense of Scriptures, an allegorical and anagogical. 9. 


1 
222 TRADITIONARY HISTORY, 


The mystic sense is diffused throughout the Serip- 
tures. 10, Yet we do not always meet with both the 
allegorical sense, and the anagogical, in every passage. 
11. The moral sense likewise pervades the whole 
Bible. 12. But the literal sense does not occur every- 
where, for many passages have no literal meaning. 
13. Some passages have only two senses, viz. a moral 
and a mystical (the mystical being either allegorical or 
anagogical, rarely both); other passages have three 
senses, the moral, the mystical, and the literal. 14. 
The /iteral sense is perceived by every attentive 
reader. The moral sense is somewhat more difficult 
to be understood. 15. But the mystic sense none can 
discover with certainty, unless they are wisemen, and 
also taught of God. 16. Neither can ever such men 
hope to fathom all the mysteries of the Sacred 
volume.”* No wonder that when such principles of 
‘Interpretation became current, and such a cloud of 
mist and darkness was thrown around the Sacred Serip- 
tures, the way was soon prepared for the priests to 
claim exclusive right to interpret the Scriptures, and 
to deny the common people access to them; and that 
the common people should have consented to get rid 
of them. 

Origen had the boldness to affirm, that the Serip- 
ture does not much help those who understand it as 
it is written. He could not discover in the sacred 
books all that he considered true, so long as he 
adhered to the literal sense: but allow him to aban- 
don the literal sense, and to search for recondite or 
occult spiritual meanings, and those books would con- 
tain Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, and the whole tribe of 
philosophers. And thus nearly all those who would 


* See Murdock’s Translation of Mosheim’s Ecc. Hist., v. i. p. 181. 


4 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 223 


model Christianity, according to their own fancy, or - 
their favorite system of philosophy, or pre-conceived 
notions, have run into this mode of interpreting 
Scripture. 

There is no reason to wonder, that in the thick 
cloud of darkness, which he drew over the word of 
God, he should have lost sight of a Millenium alto- 
gether, and made the church on earth the mystic 
kingdom of Heaven. ‘The opposition of Nepos to his 
views, and the influence of Coracion in Arsinoe, in 
preserving, for a season, the ancient faith on the sub- 
ject, have already been noticed. It was left, however, 
for Dionysius of Alexandria, a disciple of Origen, to 
establish the authority and system of his master. 
Eusebius has an extract from Dionysius’s works, in 
which he gives an account of his oral discussion with 
the presbyters and teachers of Arsinoe, and how he 
induced Coracion, and, as he says, with “him all the 
rest, to promise that they would no longer adhere to 
the millenarian view, nor discuss it; neither mention 
nor teach it,” having, as he not very modestly says of 
himself, ‘ been fully convinced by the opposite argu- 
ments.’’* 

Yet this same Dionysius, while he professed not 
to do so in reality, rejected the book of Revelations, 
and gives a long argumentt founded on the comparison 
of the style of the Apocalypse with that of the three 
Epistles of John, the absence of John’s name in the 
latter and its announcement in the former, and what 
he calls idiotisms or odd peculiarities of expression, 
to prove that the book of Revelations was not the 
production of John the apostle. After stating how 


* Euseb. Ecc. Hist., p. 278. 


ft Which Dr. Tkidace has examined and refuted in his Credi- 
bilia, vol. ii. 


: 


1 
224 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


some attributed it to Cerinthus, and set it aside alto- 
gether, pronouncing it without sense or reason, he 
says: “For my part I would not venture to set this 
book aside,” and then states the reason, not because 
he believed it to be canonical, but from mere policy ; 
“because,” says he, “there are many brethren that value 
it much; but having formed a conception of its sub- 
ject as exceeding my capacity, I consider it also con-. 
taining a certain concealed and wonderful intimation 
in each particular. For though | do not understand, 
yet I suspect, that some deeper sense is enveloped in 
the words, and these I do not measure and judge by 
my private reason ; but allowing more to faith, | have 
regarded them as too lofty to be comprehended by 
me, and those things which I do not understand, I do 
not reject, but | wonder, the more | cannot compre- 
hend.” This all seems very humble and pious; yet it 
is obvious, that he was much more disposed to be 
skeptical, and to act the part of a critic in reference 
to the book of Revelations, than to study and prize it 
as a divinely inspired work. For, after having» said 
many things to prove, that the apostle John was not 
its author,—all of them mere presumptions founded 
on his criticism,—he remarks, as though the truth 
might be suspected as to his skepticism, ‘neither 
would I have any one suppose, that | am saying these 
things by way of derision, but only with the view to 
point out the great difference between the writings of 
these men, that is, the apostle John who wrote the 
Epistles, and another John, who Dionysius persuaded 
himself was the author of the book of Revelations.’’* 

in concluding this chapter, the following facts are 
worthy of being recapitulated. 


* Euseb. Ecc. Hist., p. 276. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 225 


1. That while the primitive church retained her 
greatest simplicity of faith, and purity of life, -and 
spirit of martyrdom, the pre-millenial coming of Christ. 
for the establishment of his kingdom on the earth, was’ 
extensively and generally réceived, and used for the 
purposes of holy living. : | 

2. That the very first evidences of dissent from. it, 
appear among those who attempted to unite piticads 
phy with Christianity, and to adapt the truths: of 
Scripture to the decisions of human reason. 

_ 3. That it was not till Cerinthus, and other her BEieal; 

had perverted and given asensual gloss to the millenari- 
au doctrine, and the notions of Origen and of other con- 
verts from Platonism as to the nature of holiness, had 
undergone avery important change, that opposition to 
millenarian views began to find favor. In the first 
and second centuries, holiness was understood to be, 
as it is in truth, the love of God and of man, regulat- 
ing the feelings of men and all their ‘senses, appe- 
tites, and actions. There wasnothing felt to be sinful 
in the senses and appetites, but only in their illicit and 
excessive exercise. But the Platonic notions of the 
nature and origin of evil, led the wise and learned to 
suppose that sin sprung from the contact of spirit with 
matter, and therefore to regard the appetites them- 
selves as sinful, and to make holiness to consist in 
sexual chastity, celibacy, virginity, and only to be 
perfectly attained by the extirpation of the appetites, 
and liberation from the body. It was a false philoso- 
phy, therefore, against which the apostles warned the 
church, and which they predicted would corrupt it, 
that excited prejudices against the millenarian doc- 
trine, and prepared the way for its rejection. 

4. That even when those prejudices, engendered by 
a false philosophy, had been excited, still suecess did 

20 


' 
ae 
226 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


not crown the attempt to get rid of millenarian doc- 
trine, till a style of interpretation was introduced, 
sanctioned, and worked into a system, which ae- 
tually rendered the Sacred Scriptures useless to 
common people, and prepared the way for their be- 
coming the exclusive possession of the priests. . 

5. And that it became necessary, on the part of the 
first opposers, to deny or to doubt the canonical au- 
thority of the book of Revelations, or practically and 
skeptically to reject, and to undervalue a portion of 
the Word of God, from the beginning admitted to be 


genuine and of ἀὐνάμιο authority, and especially com- 


mended to our study and valuation. 


ee 


CHAPTER IX. 
TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


In pursuing the history of the views entertained in 
the primitive church, relative to the coming and king- 
dom of Jesus Christ, we have found but one unbroken 
chain of testimony in favor of the personal pre-millenial 
advent and appearance of the Saviour until the close of 
the second century. The opposition first publicly 
raised by Caius, against what was called the orthodox 
faith on this subject, became subsequently much more 
formidable, as prosecuted by Origen, and his disciple, 
Dionysius of Alexandria. It was not, however, till 
an entire new system of interpreting the Scriptures 
had been excogitated, and received the sanction of 
~ the wise and learned, that the millenarian views began 
to fall into disrepute. 

In speaking of this method of interpretation, 
wrought into a system by Origen, Milner says, “ No 
man, not altogether unsound and hypocritical, ever 
more hurt the church of Christ, than Origen. From 
the fanciful mode of allegory introduced by him, un- 
controlled by Scriptural rule and order, arose a viti- 
ated method of commenting on the Scriptures, which 
has been succeeded by a contempt of types and 
figures altogether, just as his fanciful ideas of letter 
and spirit, tended to remove from men’s minds, all 
right conception of genuine Christianity. A thick 
mist, for ages, pervaded the Christian world, supported 
by his absurd allegorical mode. The learned alone 


" " a ‘to. 


. ἢ 
228 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. : 


were looked at as guides implicitly to be followed ; 
and the vulgar, when the literal sense was hissed off 
the stage, had nothing to do but to follow the author- 
ity of the learned. It was not till the days of Luther 
and Melancthon that this το: was fairly and success- 
fully opposed.”* 

With Origen commenced a new era in the church. 
He prepared the way for that union of paganism and 
Christianity, which, soon after his day, became so ex- 
tensive and corrupting in the world. This he did by 
means of his philosophy, being, according. to Milner, 
“full of Platonic notions concerning the soul of the 
world, the transmigration of spirits, free will, the pre- 
existence of souls, and allegorical interpretations with- 
out end.’’t ᾿ 

Eechard says, that “ being a vast proficient in philo- 
sophy, and too much possest with the notions of Pla- 
to’s school, he grew very solicitous to accommodate 
the divine truths to his beloved opinions. And from 
three of them, all his errors seem to have proceeded, 
1. That all intelligent beings ever did and ever shall 
exist; 2. That they have always been free to do good 
_and evil ; and 3. That they have been precipitated in 
lower places and confined to bodies for a punishment 
of their sins.”{ The allegorical system of Scriptural 
interpretation, which he introduced, was.itself the ' 
genuine offspring of his pagan philosophy. 

Mr. Taylor, in his work on Ancient Christianity, 
has shown, that the evangelical truths of redemption 
by the blood of Jesus Christ, which lie everywhere on 
the very surface of the Sacred Scriptures, attracted 
very little of Origen’s attention, and that his whole 


* Milner’s Ch. Hist., vol. i. pp. 435-6. 
t Milner’s Ch. Hist., vol. i. p. 428. 
1 Echard’s Ecc. History, Ὁ. iii. p. 609. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 239 


system of mythic interpretation, as he calls it, had 
its origin and foundation in Gnostic semtiments and 
feelings. By these, he understands those particular 
notions with regard to the nature of God, engendered 
by the Platonic philosophy, and which compromise 
his moral, by means of a refinement of his natural 
attributes, and fashions a Deity allied to the imagina- 
tion,* and not to the conscience. 

The elements of thé Gnostic philoabphie were in 
existence in the days of the apostle. It was but the 
Oriental philosophy, which Cerinthus, the heretic, first 
wrought into a system, although they were not ne him 
fully and consistently developed, but in some respects 
accommodated to Jewish opinions. “The Alexan- 
drian Gnostics,” says Giesseler,t “in their specula- 
tions on these subjects, (viz. the origin of evil, the 
creation of the world, and the internal relations of the 
world of light), followed vaguely a notion borrowed 
from the Platonic doctrine of ideas, that the visible 
world is an image of the invisible. With this, they 
readily united the allegorical interpretation of the 
Seriptures, already in use, which they managed in the 
most arbitrary way.” ᾿ 

The present world, with its material elements jar- 
ring with each other, with its organized and animated 
orders, perishable, corruptible and inimical, and its 
intelligent races degenerate and wretched, was pro- 
nounced by the Gnostic philosophy, in direct contra- 
diction of the Mosaic theology, to be altogether 
unworthy of the Supreme and Infinite power—that it 
was in fact the work of inferior and imperfect beings, 
and consequently, that Jehovah, the God of the Jews, 


* Ancient Christianity, p. 212. 
t Giesseler’s Eccles. Hist., vol. i, p. 70. 


20° 


230 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


/ 

was not the Supreme Deity. Accordingly, it rejected 
the expiatory sacrifice of Christ. It wanted no such 
Saviour as Jesus Christ, according to the literal and 
historical account of the New Testament. Sin and 
guilt were not, according to it, the immediate obsta- 
cles in the way of happiness, but the connection of 
the immortal mind with matter was. Let the human 
spirit break away from the material thralls of the 
Demiurge, the creator of this gross system, and it 
would instantly be happy. Matter being dropped, sin, 
its accident, would fall with it.. The Gnostic philoso= 
phy admitted, that to effect this emancipation, Christ. 
was sent, and that he, by his opposition to Demiurge, 
the imperfect Creator and God of the Jews, recalls 
the purer minds of the human family to their original 
place in the intellectual system. 

Mosheim* gives the following account. Under 
‘the appellation of Gnostics, are included all those 
in the first ages of the church, who modified the 
religion of Christ, by: joining with it the . Orien- 
tal philosophy, in regard to the source of evil, 
and the origin of this material universe. All those 
eastern philosophers—believing that rational souls 
become connected with matter, and the inhabit- 
ants of bodies, contrary to the will and pleasure of the 
Supreme God—were in expectation of a mighty legate 
from the Deity, possessed of consummate wisdom and 
power, who would imbue witha knowledge of the true 
God, the spirits now oppressed with the load of their 
bodies, and rescue them from their bondage to the 
lords of this material world, When, therefore, some 
of them perceived, that Jesus and his friends wrought 
miracles of a salutary character, they were ready to 
believe, that Jesus was that mighty legate of God, 


* See Mosheim’s Ecc. History, vol. i. pp. 63, 64. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 231 


come to deliver men from the power of the Genii who 
governed this lower world, and to rescue souls from 
their unhappy connection with material bodies. ‘This 
supposition being admitted into their minds, they 
interpreted, or rather perverted whatever Christ and 
his disciples taught, so as to make it harmonize with 
other opinions. Their belief, that matter is eternal 
and the source of all evil, prevented them from putting 
a due estimate upon the human body, and from favor- 
ing marriage, whereby bodies are produced, and also 
from admitting the doctrine of the future resurrection 
of the body. They could not admit Christ to be truly 
God, or truly man ; and hence originated Arian specus 
lations about his inferiority to the Supreme Deity, and 
superiority of the Demiurge, or God of the Jews. 
Their belief in the existence of Aons or Genii, pre 
pared the way for a resort to magic, and all the arts of 
witchcraft, and the devices of superstition, for the 
intercession of saints, and prayers for the dead. The 
cause of Christ’s coming among men, was, they held, 
simply to strip the evil Genii of their power over the 
virtuous and heaven-born souls of men, and to teach 
them how to withdraw their divine minds from their 
impure bodies, and fit them for a union with God, 
Hence originated the ascetie rites and the monastic 
institutions, and thus, in the progress of a few centu- 
ries, paganism triumphed over Christianity, and the 
way was prepared for the grand apostasies of Mahom- 
edanism in the East, and Popery in the West. 7 

It was the influence of such philosophy that led the 
way to celibacy, to the contempt of marriage, to the 
invocation of the dead saints, to fastings and penance, 
and to various ascetic rites to mortify the flesh—in.a 
word, to the whole system of monkish religion, which 
began to spring up in the third and fourth centuries, by 


232 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


means of which, the churches of the West became as 
truly paganised, as were the millions of the East by 
“its parent Sooffeism, and its grand parent, Bhudism.” 
In the progress of this philosophy, in the struggle to 
become extricated from matter, the seat of sin, undue 
importance came to be attached to the sacraments of 
the church, to ablutions and penances, to disciplinary 
and various ascetic rites, by the observance of which 
the attainment of holiness was made the more certain. 
The very “first symptom of decay and decline in true 
evangelical holiness, has ever been, a revival of the 
ritual part of religion, which ere long becomes amass 
of solemn formalism, and of impious mummeries :— 
the Ichabod of the church has ever borne this inter- 
pretation.”’* 

To such a degree and extent did this system prevail, 
in the fourth and fifth centuries, that the church was 
pronounced the ark of safety, and the sacraments 
were regarded as the conduits of grace. The beauty 
of holiness was to be seen in conformity to the ritual ; 
and various advices and instructions were given, about 
baths and diets, and efforts to maintain celibacy, until 
at la&St, in the exaltation of the sacraments and their 
allesed potency to convey holiness, it was proclaimed, 
that “ Although a man should be foul with every vice, 
the blackest that could be named, yet should he fallinto 
the baptismal! pool, he ascends from the divine waters 
purer than the beams of noon.”+ This, as we might 
show, with much more minute detail, was the aa: Sa 
offspring of Origenism. 

It is true that ‘the churches did not pass into it sud- 
denly, nor without a struggle ; but the errors and sys- 
tem of Origen led to it; and although Origen him- 
self was condemned and excommunicated, and did not 


“® Ancient Christianity, p. 341. Ancient Christianity, p, 325. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 233 


perhaps, dream of the results to which his sys- 
tem αὐ be carried, yet, as Mosheim: states “ of 
all the religious controversies, those concerning Ori- 
gen and Origenism, made the greatest noise. Although 
churches fought resolutely against them, yet did they 
triumph. The monks were enthusiastic admirers of 
Origen ; and by the year 533, when the papacy was 
firmly established by Justinian, the system of Origen 
had triumphed, and swayed the western nations, 
almost undisturbed for one thousand years. 

It does not comport with our design to trace out 
the horrible corruptions flowing from this system. It 
led directly to the predicted apostasy ; and while its 
philosophy introduced radically. different ideas: of 
holiness, from those of Christ and his apostles, and 
reared an awful system of rites and ceremonies, and 
invocation of saints—in fact, a system of baptized 
paganism, its criticisms and expositions as to the 
import of the phrase, the kingdom of Heaven, and its 
views as to its nature, prepared the way for the Bishop 
of Rome—claiming to be the vicegerent of Christ, and 
the church to be His kingdom on earth—to grasp the 
sceptre of universal dominion, and to exercise ἃ 
tyranny over the bodies and the souls of men, unlike 
anything the world had ever witnessed. 

It is worthy of notice, remarks a modern author, 
who has carefully examined the writings of Origen on 
this very point, that the same remarkable man and ac- 
credited heretic, whose name is an abomination in both 
the Greek and Latin churches, throughout all their 
borders, and in all their generations, is the inventor of 
both the doctrine of the kingdom of Heaven come, and 
also of the keys of the kingdom of Heaven having 
been received by Peter for Peter’s own personal use. 
But Origen had no more idea of the Pope’s using Pe- 


1 ‘ 
234. TRADITIONARY HISTORY. τ᾿ 


ter’s keys, to open and shut Heaven upon poor souls, 
at the Pope’s will, than the Pope himself has, that he 
is‘wholly indebted to that detested heretic of Egypt 
for the sole invention of the doctrine of Peter’s keys 
and kingdom, with the power of which, the Roman 
sways whole nations, and shakes the wide earth.* 

We need not, therefore, be surprised that with the 
growth and spread of Origen’s system of interpretation 
and philosophy, the plain doctrines of the gospel 
should have disappeared, and that we should find less 
and less trace of the ancient faith as to Christ’s com- 
ing and kingdon, from the rise of Popery to the Re- 
formation. Still, however, can we trace it down after 
the days of Origen. Even Origen himself could not 
wholly extricate himself from the imfluence of views, 
which were embraced by the decided majority of 
Christians in his day, and for some time afterward. 
Occasionally he betrays, in his writings, sentiments 
that must be referred to it. “If any man,”} says he, 
“ shall preserve the washing of the Holy Spirit, he 
shall have his part in the first resurrection ; but if any 
man be saved in the second resurrection only, it isthe 
sinner that needeth the baptism by fire. Wherefore, 
seeing these things are so, let us lay the Scriptures to 
heart, and make them the rule of our lives, that so be- 


* Glad Tidings, p. 82. 

ἡ Si quis servaverit lavacrum Spiritus Sancti iste in resurrectio- 
nis prime parte communicat. Si quis vero in secunda resurrec- 
tione servatur, iste peccator est, qui ignis indiget baptismo. Quam- 
obrem cum talia post mortem nobis residere videamus, Scripturas 
diligenter simul recitantes reponamus eas in cordibus nostris, et 
juxta earum vivere precepta nitamur; ut ante excessionis diem, 
peecatorum sordibus emundati (he means human passions and ap- 
petites) cum sanctis valeamus assumi in Christo Jesu.—Homil. 13, 
im Jerem. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


part, we may be raised up with his saints, and have 


our lot with Christ Jesus.” Here he makes the dis- 
tinction between the first and second resurrection, ac- 
cording to the millenarian view, but instantly perverts 
and applies it to his own system, as Mrs. Sherwood has 
done, employing it in support of his belief in universal 


salvation, or the final restoration of the wicked, which 


was one of the ultimate and legitimate results of his 
pagan philosophy. | 

In pursuing the chain of historical testimony down 
from the days of Origen, we notice first Cyprian,* 
bishop of Carthage, whose character has been so 


* Mede, in his letter to Mr. Estwick, b. 4, p. 837, quotes the 
following from Cyprian, lib. de Exhortatione Martyrii, in the preface 
of which, he says :— : 

* Desiderasti, fortunate charissime, ut quoniam persecutionum 
et pressurarum pondus incumbit, et in fine atque consummatione 
mundi, Antichristi tempus infestum appropinquare nune cepit, ad 


preeparandas et corroborandas fratrum mentes, de divinis Seriptu- — 


ris hortamenta componerem, quibus milites Christiad cceleste et 
spirituale certamen animarum—paulo post—sex millia annorum 
jam pene complentur. Si imparatum invenerit Diabolus militem 
Christi,” &c. 

On which he remarks, “He, you see, expected the coming of 
Antichrist should be at the end of the six thousandth year, which 
he supposed then near at hand, yet thought the world would last 
seven thousand, viz. a thousand years-after the destruction of Anti- 
christ, ut patet ex iis qu disserit, cap. ii., in these words, Quid 
vero in Maccabeis septem fratres et natatium pariter, et virtutum 
sorte consimiles, Septenarium numerum perfecte consummationis 
implentes? Sic septem fratres in martyrio’'coherentes, ut primi 
in dispositione divina septem dies, annorum septem millia con- 
tinentes—ut consummatio legitima compleatur, ὅς. This, to him 
that knows Chiliasm, is plain Chiliasm. Look, and compare your 
Austin, cap. vii. lib. 20, de Civit. Dei, those words, Qui propter 
heec hujus libri verba primam resurrectionem, &c. Compare also 
what Cyprian hath in the end of that book, out of the gospel, 


I 
236 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . ° 


highly lauded by Milner, and who flourished about - 
the middle of the third century. He exhorts Chris- 
tians “ever in anxiety and cautiousness, to be awaiting: 
the sudden advent of the Lord.”* For, “as. those 
things which were foretold, are come to pass, so those 
will follow which are yet promised; the Lord himself 
giving assurance, and saying, When ye see all these 
things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of 
God is nigh at hand. - Dearest brethren, the kingdom 
of God has begun to be nigh at μαπά. Τ᾿ 

Lactantius, who was contemporary with Constantine 
the Great, and tutor to his son, and was considered, 
as Mosheim says, the most eloquent of the Latin fa- 
thers, did not, with Origen, relinquish the ancient 
faith. He has, indeed, been reproached by Jerome 
with being sensual in his views of the kingdom of 
heaven, and accused by others with holding the sen- 
timents of the Manichees. But Dr. Lardner 1 has 
vindicated him from the latter charge; and as to the 
former, an examination of Lactantius’s own words 
shows that Jerome, that great opposer and enemy of 
millenarian views, entirely misapprehended his mean- 
ing, and understood him, when speaking of the nations 
yet remaining in the flesh after the coming of Christ, to 
refer to the risen saints. § Speaking of the coming of 


Mark, 10. 29, 30, and Apocalypse, 20, and you will acknowledge 
him to be (as he was wont to profess himself) Tertulliani disci- 
pulum,” 

* Oxford Tr. of Cyprian, p. 149. (ildem, 217. 

t Credibilia, vol. iii. pp. 316-319. 

§ St. Hierom was a chief champion, says Mede, to cry down this 
opinion, and (according to his wont) a most unequal relator of the. 
opinion of his adversaries. What credit he deserves in this, may 
appear by some fragments of those authors still remaining, whom 
he charged with an opinion directly contrary to that which they 


TRADITIONABY -HISTORY. "237 


God to judge the world, he says: But when he shall do 
that, and shall restore the just, that have been from the 
beginning, unto life, he shall converse among men, and 
rule them with a most righteous government. 
They that shall be raised from the dead, shall be over 
the living as judges. And the Gentiles shall not be 
utterly extinguished, but some shall be left for the vic- 
tory of God, that they may be triumphed over by the 
just, and reduced to perpetual subjection. About the 
same time, the prince of devils,.the forger of all evil, 
shall be bound with chains, and shall be in custody all 
the thousand years of the heavenly empire, under 
which righteousness shall reign over the world.* 


expressly affirmed. And yet when he had stated it so as it must 
needs be heresie and blasphemy, whosoever should hold it, he is 
forced to say, he durst not damn it, because, multi virorum eccle- 
siasticorum et martyrum ista dixerunt. (Comment. in Jerem. 19. 
10.) Many ecclesiastical persons and martyrs affirmed the same. 
—Mede’s Works, b.3, p. 602. 

‘The reader may see still further and deserved censure of Jerome, 
for his reproaches ani charges of sensualizing against the ancient 
millenarian Christians, by the same author, in his Works, Ὁ. 5. δ. 
5. De Hieronymi pronunciata dogmata Millenariorum, © 

Also, b. 4, Ep. 51, pp. 811, 812, in his answer to Dr. Twisse’s 
fifth letter. 

Lardner remarks, “ It is well known that Lactantius expected a 
terrestrial reizn of Christ for a thousand years before the general 
judgment. Jerome has riliculed his millenarian notions, which 
are chiefly enlarge! upon inthe seventh and last book of his Di- 
vine Institutions. Jerome took the same freedom with Irenzeus, 
Tertullian, Victorinns, and other Christian wrilers, who had the 
like sentiment.”—Credibilia, 3. 520. , 

* Sed et ipse demonum princeps, auctor, et machinator malorum, 
eatenis igneis alligatus, custodie dabitur ut pacem-mundus acei- 
Piat, et ut vexata tot seculis terra requiescat. Pace igitur parta. 
compressoque omni malo, rex ille justus, et victor, judicium mag- 
num de vivis et mortuis faciet super terram: viventibus quidem 
justis tradet in servitutem gentes universas; mortuos au.em ad 

21 


938° TRADITIONARY ΜΈΝ πῇ 

Methodius, bishop of Olympus, a martyr under De- 
cius, A. D. 312, died in the same faith, having written | 
a book against Origen on the subject of the resurrec- 
tion, from which an extract has been preserved by 
Proclus in Epiphanius. ‘It is to be expected,” says 
he, “that at the conflagration, the creation shall suffer 
a vehement commotion, as if it were about to die; 
whereby it shall be renovated and not perish, to the end 
that we, then also renovated, may dwell in the renewed 
world, free from sorrow. Thus it is said in Psalm 

104, ‘Thou wilt send forth thy Spirit, and they shal] 
be created, and thou wilt renew the face of the earth.’ ”* 

Epiphanius,f a historian of the fourth century, speaks 
favorably of the millenarian doctrine, and says that it 
was held by many in his time. 

- The Council of Nice, which was called by Constan- 
tine the Great, for the purpose of deciding all contro- 
verted questions respecting the faith and discipline of 
the Christian church, and which consisted of 318 
members, beside a vast concourse of clergymen and 
others attending from curiosity, is accounted by many 
to have been-one of the most important .assemblies 
ever convened; it was held A.D. 325, in the twentieth 
year of the reign of the first Christian emperor of 
Rome. This Council, which framed what is called the 
Nicene Creed, beside their definition of faith and ec- 
clesiastical canons, set forth certain forms of ecclesi- 
astical doctrines, which Gelasius Cyzicenus has given 
in his history of its Acts. 


sternam vitam suscitabit, et in terra cum his ipse regnabit; et 
condet sanctam civitatem et erit regnum justorum mille annis. 
—Lactantius de Divinis Instit. Epitome librorwm 7, 11, p. 517, 
‘cont. ex offic. Jo. Hayes, 1685. 

*Epiphan. lib. 3.2. El. of Prop Int., p. 45. 

ft Idem, p. 46, lib. 3. 2. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 239 


We quote from these Acts,—not because we recog- 
nize the Council of Nice as an authority, in any 
respect whatever, having been convened by the em- 
peror, having conducted its deliberations in his pre- 
sence, and deserving just as little respect for its 
authority over conscience, as all such councils and 
assemblies are, where the church and state are 
united ;—but because it furnishes, incidentally, some 
valuable testimony as to what continued yet to be, at 
that period, the method of interpretation most prevalent. 
The following is among their acts, as reported by 
Gelasius :* “‘ We expect new heavens and a new earth,t 
according to the Holy Scriptures, at the appearing of 
the great God, and our Saviour, JesusChrist. Andas 
Daniel says,{ ‘ The saints of the Most High shall take 
the kingdom.’ And there shall be a pure and holy 
land, the living and not of the dead; which David, 
foreseeing with the eye of faith, exclaims, I believe to 
see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the liv- 
ing—the land of the meek and humble. ‘Blessed, 
saith Christ, ‘are the meek, for they shall inherit the 
earth.’§ And the prophet saith, ‘The feet of the 
meek and humble shall tread upon it.’ ”’|| 


* In his Historia Actorum Concilii Niceni.—Aca τοῦτο καινοὺς ovpa- 
νοῦς καὶ καινὴν γῆν προσδοκωμεν, κατἄ ἱερὰ γράμματα; φαινομένης ἡμῖν TNS επι- 
φανειας και βασιλείας τοῦ μεγαλου Θεοῦ και Σιωτῆρος ἡμῶν Inoos Χριστοῦ 
και παραληψοντα τότε, καθ᾽ & φησι Δανιηλ, τὴν βασιλειαν. Simile quid 
habet Irenzeus, lib. v. ς. 36, lin. 6. ; 

t**Judge by this,” says Mede, * (notwithstanding fifty years’ 
opposition) how powerful the chiliastical party yet was at the 
time of that council. By some of. whom if this formula were not 
framed and composed, yet was it thus moderated, as you see, that 
both parties might accept it, salva cuique interpretatione sua, as 
being delivered in the terms and language of Scripture.”’"-—Mede’s 
Works, b. 4, Ep. 3, p. 813. 

t Dan. 7. 18. § Matth, 5. 5. || Is. 26. 6. 


1 
240 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


_ It required a century and more to give currency to 
the principles of Pagan philosophy, and the style of 
interpretation which Origen sanctioned and intro- 
duced; and although the errors and corruptions of 
popery were not wrought completely into a system, 
till some time in the beginning of the sixth century, 
yet were all the elements at work, and the different 
capital forms of error existed in their embryo 
state, which afterwards characterized the apostate 
church of Rome. ‘ That the Nicene divines,” says 
Mr. I. Taylor, ‘‘ were, most of them, sincere, devout, 
assiduous in their duties, and anxiously intent on the 
welfare of the churches under their care, is incontest- 
ibly proved by their remains. But does it appear, 
from the same documents, that their hearts were 
warmed by those truths, which are the glory of the 
Christian system, and which, when so entertained, im- 
part an unction and an animation to Christian commu- 
nion? I think the affirmative cannot be pretended in. 
favor of these divines, by even their most devoted 
admirers.’* The dim traces of the ‘simple faith of 
the primitive church, to be found among them, gradu- 
ally disappeared, and left the world shrouded in the 
gloom of darkness, which brooded for ages over the 
nations of Europe, and blighted the human mind. 

Yet, here and there, from the days of Origen till 
those of Jerome, we meet with the primitive faith. 
Gregory of Nyssa, and Paulinus, bishop of Antioch, 
also, as Jerome affirms, Victorinus, bishop of Pattaw, 
and Apollinaris, bishop of Bituria, and Sulpicius, too, 
a chaste and classic historian of the fourth century, 
had not entirely renounced the millenarian faith. 

Augustine, too, admits that at one period of his life, 


* Ancient Christianity, p. 316. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY a | 


he held the same views.*’ Eusebius, the historian, 
bishop of Pamphylia, was prejudiced against this faith, 
and from him appears to have originally sprung the 
obloquy, which was afterwards cast on those who held 
it. He does not indeed attack them openly, but 
covertly,—by raising questions on the canonical au- 
thority of the book of Revelations,—by confounding 
the primitive faith on this subject with the views of 
heretics,—by attributing their origin to Cerinthus,— 
by insinuating that their early upholders were Ebion- 
ites, in which assertions he afterwards contradicts 
himself, attributing the origin of these views to Pa- 
pias, and about whom his testimony is contradictory. 

This Eusebius was tinctured with Arianism,} which 
may have been the origin of his opposition to mille- 
narianism. He is pronounced, by Bishop Jeremy 
Taylor,t not to be clear of a suspicion of having 
endeavored to corrupt and to falsify the Nicene 
creed. He is justly suspected of time-serving, having 
boasted of his conversations with the Emperor Con- 
-stantine. Yet on the credit and judgment of sucha 
man, cited by Dr. Whitby,§ as decisive authority, 
rests the whole weight of the objection at this day 
brought against the millenarian doctrine held in the 
primitive church. 

Baronius has preserved a letter of Julian the apos- 
tate, emperor of Rome, and nephew of Constantine, in 


*St. Austin himself, Daubuz quotes, as approving millena- 
rian views. JInterea dum wille annis ligatus est diabolus, sancti 
regnant cum Christo etiam ipsis mille annis eisdem sine dubio, 
et eodem modo intelligendis. Augustin de Civit. Dei. Lib. 20. 
eap. 5. 

¢ See Magdeburg Centuriators Hist. Eccles., ch. 10, sec. 3. 

t Liberty of Prophesying, folio ed. p. 954. 

. ὃ Treatise on the Millenium. 


21* 


1 
242 TRADITIONARY MNISTORY: 


which he sneers against the belief of those Christians 
- of his day, who expected the kingdom of Heaven. 

Jerome teems with abuse and ridicule in relation to 
it, and by his abuse and silencing of Vigilantius, a 
teligiows reformer, who opposed the corruptions and 
superstitions of popery, then widely spread, and 
his general character for fierceness, acrimony, and 
ribaldry, toward all who differed from him, has for- 
feited all claims upon our respect; yet Jerome, the 
vehement adversary of the doctrine, in his comment- 
ary on Jer. 19.10, says, “that he durst not con- 
demn the doctrine, because many ecclesiastical per- 
sons and martyrs affirmed the same,” thus admitting 
that it had not in his day wholly disappeared.* 

Cyril, Basil, Chrysostom, Ambrose, Augustine, and 
other eminent fathers of the fifth and sixth centuries, 
can lay no claim to authority, nor can anything, de- 
rogatory to the primitive faith, be inferred from their 
silence or skepticism in relation to millenarian doc- 
‘trme. Speaking of these very writers, and others, 
their cotemporaries, Mr. I. Taylor says, “ Whether 
they belong to the eastern or to the western, to the 
north African, or to the Alexandrian churches, they 
hold the same language, and seem to emulate each 
other in their zeal to promote every one of those no- 
tions and practices which, when digested into canons, 
decrees, or ecclesiastical usages, make up what we 
mean by popery or Romanism, as the system adopted 
and enforced by the papacy.”+ 

The truth is, the churches, from Origen to Jerome, 
were occupied with distracting controversies about 
the essence of the Godhead, the trinity of persons. in 

‘ 


* See Bishop Newton’s Dissertations on the Prophecies, xx. 5. 
t Ancient Christianity, p. 448. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 243 


gee 
the divine nature, and a thousand matters of philo- 
sophical abstraction ; and about the religion of forms, 
and rites, and ceremonies. The hierarchy was making 
rapid and ambitious strides towards ecumenical 
sway. The true scriptural and elementary ideas of 
holiness and virtue, had undergone a radical change. 
Pretensions were set up, for the power and authority 
of the church, which had never before been thought 
of. The efficacy of sacraments and of forms was much 
insisted on, and the sadly misnamed holy Catholic 
church, took precedence of the kingdom of Heaven, 
and claimed to be the ark of safety. Men’s thoughts 
were directed to it, as to their sanctuary rather than 
to Jesus Christ and to his heavenly kingdom. Fromthe 
time of the conversion of Constantine, the Roman ~ 
Emperor, to the Christian faith, a marvellous and 
rapid change took place in the interpretation of 
prophecy, for which the way had been prepared by 
the system-and philosophy of Origen. 

“Previous to this period,” says Mr. Brooks,* ‘ it 
was the uniform and constant opinion of the church, 
that Rome would become the seat of AnticuRistT; that 
the empire would by a revolution first be divided into 
kingdoms ; that then Antichrist would be revealed and 
prosper for a time ; and that after the reigning power 
should have suffered a signal discomfiture, the do- 
minion should be altogether taken from “the eternal 
ον. Such a notion could not be palatable to the 
Roman Emperor, if known to him; and the less so, if 
it was further understood, that some, in times of pagan 
persecution, had already mused in their hearts, whether 
the Emperor himself, for the time being, were not 


; * Elem. of Prophet. Int., pp. 48, 49. 

t See Jerome’s Commentary on Dan. 7. in which he declares the 
uniform testimony of the fathers on this head, and was persuaded 
of it himself. 


] 


DAA TRADIBIONARY HISTORY. | 
* 2 


personally the Antichrist. These things must have 
been very perplexing to those ecclesiastics, now 
mingling with the court, who were of a compliant and 
secular spirit, which may be judged of, when we find 
an honest and bold, and godly man, like Lactantius, 
now expressing himself with avowed reluctance on 
these topics. He says, “the Roman power which now 
governs the world, (my mind dreads to declare it, yet 
I must speak it, because it will surely come to pass !) 
the Roman power will be taken away from the earth, 
and the empire will return into Asia, and the East will 
again have the chief dominion, and the West role in 
subjection.*” 

“The convenient explication, however, was soon 
afterwards discovered, and adopted by many, that Anti- 
christ was Pagan Rome, and that from the date of Con- 
stantine’s conversion, the Millenium commenced.” 
Able men were found to maintain such an interpreta- 
tion, and the church was pronounced to be the kingdom 
of Heaven. The irruption of the barbarians divided the 
Western part of the empire into ten kingdoms. Con- 
stantinople became the metropolis. The sceptre de- 
parted from Rome, and the East had sway. But 
amidst the revolutions, convulsions, and desolations, 
of the city and empire, the Bishop of Rome gained a 
powerful influence, and was elevated to the highest 
rank. The conversion of the barbarian kings, and of 
the nations that deluged Europe, to the faith of the 
church, and the general anarchy and confusion conse- 
quent on the new order of things, gave ascendant in- 
fluence to the church, which retained and preserved 
the only civilizing influence, and the only fit persons 
for the dispensation of justice and for the necessary re- 


* Lactantius de Div. Institut. ch. 15. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY: 245 


straints of government. The civil power of the empire 
did indeed, as, Lactantius from prophecy had declared, 
depart to the East; but the Roman Bishop soon sway- 
ed his sceptre over the barbarian kings and their king- 
doms, and obtained from Justinian, the Emperor, the 
full and formal recognition of his authority as Unt 
versal Bishop, and a code of laws which changed the 
entire character of the government, brought the 
church and state into close alliance, and laid the basis: 
of the legislation of Europe, until Napoleon broke the 
spell, imprisoned the Bishop of Rome, and introduced 
a tide of revolution, the first waves of which only 
have passed over the dynasties of Europe. 
“When the Bishop of Rome was elevated to the 
high rank he. attained under the papacy, the incon- 
venience of explaining Rome to be the capital city of 
Antichrist, and ‘ the Babylon,’ and ‘ Harlot,’ and ‘Mo- 
ther of Harlots,’ of the Apocalypse, was more sensi- 
bly felt than ever ; because it could not be asserted, 
without giving occasion for the very obvious conclu- 
sion, that the Bishop of Rome would some day apos- 
tatize, together with the church in general over which 
he was the head. Accordingly, from the time of Jus- 
tinian, efforts were, both openly and clandestinely,; 
made to get rid of the doctrine altogether, by remov- 
ing or corrupting the evidence in its favor, or by affix- 
ing to it the stigma of heresy. Pope Damasus en- 
deavored peremptorily to put it down by a decree; 
and some works of the Fathers, which were in favor 
of it, (such as the works of Papias, the treatise of Ne- 
pos already adverted to, several of the more direct 
works of Irenzus on the subject, Tertullian’s Treatise 
on Paradise, and various others), were successfully 
suppressed ; and in regard to those which could not 
be so well withdrawn, a system of interpolating or 


I 
246. TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


otherwise altering the text commenced, which, in 
some instances, has affected only a portion of the 
manuscript copies that have come down to us, and i in 
other instances the entire of them.’’* 

The council of Rome, convened under Damasus 
A. Ὁ. 373, prepared the way for the general contempt 
and rejection of millenarian doctrine. ‘“ The heresy,” 
says Baronius, “however loquacious before, was 
silenced then, and since that time has hardly been 
heard of. Moreover,” he adds, “the figments of the 
Millenarians being now (16th century) rejected every- 
where and derided by the learned with hisses and 
laughter, and being also put under the ban, were en- 
tirely extirpated.” 

Such is the history of millenarian doctrine till it is 
lost in the dark ages. Occasionally, however, the 
views of private Christians, in opposition to those of © 
Rome, peep out through the darkness, and appear in 
the admission of their opposers; and although great 
pains had been taken to instil into the minds of the 
people, that Antichrist had already appeared, and was 
now engulphed in the lake of fire, it appears, never- 
theless, even from Baronius, Sabellinus, and Platina, 
all Roman Catholic authors, that in the year 1106 a 
very general opinion prevailed that Antichrist was 
about to appear, being partly induced by the extraor- 
dinary natural phenomena and heavenly signs which 
then appeared.” } 

Bishop Newton says,.distinctly, “‘ Wherever the 
influence and authority of the church of Rome have 
extended, she hath endeavored by all means to dis- 
credit this doctrine ; and indeed not without sufficient 


* El. of Proph. Int., p. 51. ‘ 
t Baronius, A. D. 373. 14, and 411. 48, 
t El. of Proph. Int., p. 60, 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 94. 


reason, this kingdom of Christ being founded on the 
ruins of the kingdom of Antichrist. No wonder, 
therefore, that this doctrine lay depressed for many 
ages ; but it sprang up again at the Reformation, and 
will flourish together with the study of the Revela- 
tion.”’* 

It does not, however, appear that the earlier re- 
formers embraced very distinctly the idea of a Mil- 
lenium, or of a thousand years’ triumph of the church, 
either according to millenarian or anti-millenarian 
views. The tenet of one thousand years was carefully 
avoided, most probably because of the obloquy which 
for ages had been cast upon it; but it is a remarkable 
fact, that all the important truths connected with it, 
were, almost universally, entertained by the reformers 
and their early successors ; such as the coming of the 
Lord Jesus Christ to set up a glorious kingdom on the 
earth, in which all the saints should partake ; the re- 
-surrection of the bodies of the dead saints ; the quick- 
ening of the living ; the national conversion and lite- 
ral restoration of the Jews to Palestine; the earth be 
renewed and Jerusalem rebuilt; and the previous 
manifestation and destruction of Antichrist.t Hence 
it is, that you may find in the writings of some of them, 
as for example in Bishop Jeremy Taylor, that while 
Chiliasm or Millenarianism is deprecated in one 
page, sentiments are avowed in another, which, at this 
day, are recognized as decided millenarian doctrine. 

Luther, in his answer to the book of Ambrosius 
Catharinus, having affirmed that the papacy is Anti- 
christ, and having expressed his confidence in the do- 
minion of Jesus Christ, puts forth his prayer that God 


* Newton’s Dissertations on the Prophecies, ch. 25, p. 592, Lond. - 
ed. of 1838. 


t El. of Proph. Int., p. 62. 


Ϊ 
248 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. | 


‘would reveal the day of the glorious advent of his 
Son, in which he shall destroy the man of sin?’* 

. We deem it unnecessary to make many extracts 
from the writings of the reformers, preferring to quote 
the creeds and confessions of faith adopted in the 
earliest and purest periods of the Reformation, begin- 
ning with the Lutheran, called the Augsburg Confes- 
-sion, because adopted at Augsburg, when (A. D. 1530,) 
the reformers appeured there, before the Emperor 
Charles V., the princes of the empire, the Pope’s 
legates, and the nobles and prelates of the Latin king- 
dom. In the 17th article of that confession, they say, 
“In like manner they (i. 6. our churches) condemn 
those who circulate the judaizing notion, that prior to 
the resurrection of the dead, the pious will engross 
the government of the world, and the wicked be every- 
where oppressed.” ‘This strikes directly against the 
modern notions of the Millenium, one essential item of 
which is, that the governments of earth will be adminis- 
tered by pious rulers in the flesh. No doubt this clause 
in the confession of faith was introduced in direct oppo- 
sition to the Anabaptists of Germany, who, not satis- 
fied with Luther’s plan of reformation, undertook the 
visionary enterprise to found a new church, entirely 
spiritual and divine ; and began their fanatical work 
under the guidance of Miinzer, Stubner, Storick, and 
others, and declaring war against all laws, govern- 
ments, and magistrates, of every kind. Simon.Menno, 
the founder of the sect of Mennonites, recalled many 
of the German Anabaptists from their extravagances, 
and set before them the true principles of primitive 
Millenarianism. ‘There was much piety in this seet 


' * Ostendat illum diem adventus glorie Filii sui quo destruatur 
iniquus iste. L. Oppid. let. ii, p. 162. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 249 


during the greater part of two centuries. Mosheim* 
says that they “maintained the ancient hypothesis of 
a visible and glorious church of Christ upon earth.” 

J. Cocceius, professor of theology at Bremen, was 
the founder of a sect called Cocceians, who held, 
-among other singular opinions, say the Encyclope- 
dists,t that of a visible reign of Christ in this world, 
after a general conversion of the Jews and of all other 
people to the true Christian faith, as laid down in his 
voluminous works. 

The Pietists of Germany, whose purer and stricter 
religion provoked reproach and gained for them this 
name, of like import with the Puritans of England and 
the Methodists of later day, were in general Millena- 
rians.{ 

The Mystics, both of England and the Continent, 
held millenarian views, as appears from the testimony 
of Rev. T. Hartley,§ Rector of Winnick, Northampton, 
himself a Mystic. Next, says Mr. Brooks, may be 
mentioned the sect of the Jansenists, existing in the 
bosom of the Roman Catholic church in France, but 
holding sentiments which approximate to evangelical 
Protestantism. Ben Ezra, a work by a catholic author, 
translated by Mr. Irving, contains millenarian views. 
John Wesley|| and Fletcher‘ of Madeley also held some 
parts of the doctrine. 

The force of truth, the influence of the Spirit, and 


* Ecc. Hist., vol. v. p. 497. 

t English Encyclopedia, art. Cocceius. 
_ { See a work entitled Useful Information respecting Pietism, or 
a Statement of the real Faith and Doctrine of the so called Pietists, 
by J. P. Klettwich, who was deposed by the -Consistory of Leipsic. 

§ See his work entitled Paradise Restored, or a Testimony to the 
Doctrine of the Blessed Millenium, 1764. 

{| See El. of Proph. Int., p. 77. 

« See Fletcher’s Works, vol. ix. p. 368. 


22 


? 
250 - TRADITIONARY HISTORY. - 


the multiplication of moral means, are now relied 
upon, by spiritualists generally, to promote the pros- 
perity and the dominion of the church. The swordand 
violence were preferred by the fanatical sects. Both 
alike contended for a dominion of the church, in the 
state and over the state, somehow or other, by the 
authority and influence of men in the flesh. pit 
~The Fifth-Monarchy men of England were a small 
political faction, who availed themselves of the belief 
of Christ’s speedy personal coming, in order to at- 
tempt the subversion of the government, and with 
whom, very unjustly, it has been attempted to identify 
those who held millenarian doctrine. Having adopted 
and associated with the belief of Christ’s personal and 
speedy manifestation, the spiritual idea of the Mille- 
nium, that the pious Christians, while in the flesh, are 
to govern the world, they inferred it to be their duty, 
previous to his coming, to possess themselves of the 
kingdoms of this world. 

.No such idea is embraced in the millenarian doc- 
trine. It concedes the kingdom only to the saints 
raised from the dead. It has been the engrafting, on 
the belief of the speedy coming of Christ, the same 
notion of a temporal Millenium, viz. that Christians in 
the flesh are to govern the world, which has led, if 
we are correctly informed as to their opinions and 
practice, to the formation of a rapidly growing and 
wretchedly corrupt and deluded sect, and which has 
already been the occasion of much disturbance in our 
own country—we mean the Mormons or Latter Day 
Saints—deceived by the artful schemes and imposture 
of a corrupt and selfish leader. 

The Augsburg Confession, in disowning altogether 
the idea of the saints yet in the flesh governing the 
world, and consequently a spiritual Millenium before 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 251 


the coming of Christ, bears its testimony against all 
such fanaticism ; so that whatever may have been the 
views of the Lutherans as to the kingdom of heaven 
and the day of judgment, their early divines cannot 
be quoted in favor of the Millenium now expected by 
the great mass of professing Christians. 

The churches of the reformation, it is worthy of 
remark, had their attention directed mainly (ὃ the cor- 
ruptions of Popery in essential matters of faith. The 
doctrine of justification by faith without the deeds of 
the law, as the only means of acceptance with God 
and of a sanctified life, and its kindred truths, attracted 
their chief attention ; while they directed their oppo- 
sition to the superstitions, and tyranny, and corruptions 
of the papacy. The idea of aseparation of the church 
and state seems not to have entered their minds, and, 
of necessity, in their struggles against popery, they 
became involved in political contests, designed to 
secure the authority of the state in support of the 
reformation. 

We have evidence, during the early period of the 
reformation in Great Britain, of what was the voice of 
those opposed to the corruptions of popery. In the 
Catechism* published in the reign of King Edward 


᾿Ξ Secundo loco petimus, ut adveniat Regnum ejus. Adhuc enim 
non videmus omnes Christo esse subjectos; non videmus ut lapis 
de monte abscissus sit sine opere humano, qui contrivit et in nihi- 
lum redegit statuam descriptam a Daniele: ut petra sola, qui est 
Christus, occupet et obtineat totius mundi imperium a patre con- 
cessum. Adhuc non est occisus Antichristus: quo.fit ut nos desi- 
deremus et precemur, ut id tandem aliquando contingat et implea- 
tur; utque solus Christus regnet cum suis sanctis, secundum divi- 
nas promissiones ; utque vivat et dominetur in mundo, juxta Sancti 
Evangelii decreta, non autem juxta traditiones et leges hominum 
et voluntatem Tyrannorum mundi. M. faxit Deus, ut Regnum 
ejus adveniat quam eitissimé. Mede’s Works, b. 4, ep. 53, p. 814, 


? 
252 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


VI., which Burnet says* Archbishop Cranmer owned 
to be from his pen, and which was sanctioned by cer- 
tain high ecclesiastics of that day, we have the follow- 
ing on the subject of Christ’s kingdom: “ We ask 
that this kingdom may come, because, as yet, we see 
not all things subject to Christ: we see not yet how 
the stone is cut out of the mountain, without human 
help, which breaks in pieces and reduces to nothing 
the image described by Daniel ; or how the only rock, 
which is Christ, doth possess and obtain the empire of 
the whole world, given him of the Father. As yet 
Antichrist is not slain; whence it is that we desire 
and pray that, at length, it may come to pass and be 
fulfilled ; and that Christ alone may reign with his 
saints, according to the divine promises ; and that He 
may live and have dominion in the world, according 
to the decrees of the holy gospel, and not according 
to the traditions and laws of men and the will of the 
tyrants of the world. God grant that his kingdom 
may come speedily.” 

This was the faith of the Episcopal church of Eng- 
land in the days of Edward VI., with which some 
things in her liturgy still exactly accord. It is true 
that in 1553, in the forty-two articles which then 
expressed her faith, the forty-first was pointed directly 
against the Millenarians of that day, just as we have 
‘seen the Augsburg Confession was. The Anabaptists, 
who had spread to England and engrafted their fanati- 
cal views on some features of millenarian doctrine, 
were most probably the cause of this ; for nine years 
after, when there was nothing to fear from that fanati- 
cal sect, and millenarian views came to be better 
understood, it, together with two others, was with- 


* Hist. of his own Times, vol. iii. ἢ. 4. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 253 


drawn, having been struck out by Archbishop Parker, 
leaving the present thirty-nine articles of the English 
church. 

The sentiments of Bishop Latimer* are very clearly 
expressed—“ St. Paul saith, The Lord will not come 
till the swerving from the faith cometh,” } which thing 
as already done and past. Antichrist is already known 
throughout the world. Wherefore the day is not far off. 
Let us beware, for it will one day fall on our heads. 
Saint Peter saith, “ the end of all things draweth very 
near.” St. Peter said so. at his time—how much more 
shall we say so? for it is a long time since Peter spake 
these words... The world was ordained to endure— 
as all learned men affirm and prove it with Scripture— 
6,000 years. Now of that number there be passed 
5,552 years; so there is no more left but 448 years. 
And, furthermore, those days shall be shortened: it 
shall not be full 6,000 years: the days shall be 
‘“ shortened for the elect’s sake.” 

In his sermon for the second Sunday in Advent, 
speaking of the days being shortened, he says, ‘so 
that, peradventure, ἐξ may come in my days, old as 1 
am, or in my children’s days. There will be great 
alterations at that day: there will be hurly-burly, like 
as ye see when a man dieth, &c. There will be 
such alterations of the earth and the elements, they 
will lose their former nature, and be endued with 
another nature. And then shall they see the Son of 
Man come in a cloud with power and great glory.” 
He speaks of the living saints being caught up into 
the air to meet Christ, and says, all those, I say, who 
be content to strive, and fight with sin, these shall in 
such wise be taken up into the air and meet with 


* His third Sermon on the Lord’s Prayer. 
t 2 Thess. 2. 3. 
227 


1 
2804 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


Christ, and so shall come down with him again. In all 
this there is not the most remote thought of ρος a 
period as the spiritualist’s Millenium. 

Bradford, the martyr, on Rom. 8, expresses ἃς 
same expectation.* Mr. Brooks says, “ At the latter 
end of this century (the sixteenth) several individuals 
of eminence are known to us as having professed mil- 
lenarian sentiments on prophecy ; among whom may 
be named John Piscator, Alphonsus Conrade, Carolus 
Gallus, Tycho Brahe, Dr. F. Kett, Abraham Fleming, 
Hugh Broughton, and Anthony Marten "ἢ 

It might be supposed that the reputation for piety 
and erudition’deservedly held by many advocates of 
millenarian doctrine, both in England and on the con- 
tinent, would have secured its greater prevalence. 
But prelacy was bitterly opposed to it, because it pro- 
claimed the Pope to be Antichrist, and they that did 
so were contemned as puritans. In the preface of 
Eph. Huet’s Commentary on Daniel, signed by Simeon 
Ash, Samuel Clarke, and W. Overton, eminent divines, 
it ie stated, that such was the iniquity and imperi- 
ousness of the times that few works.of this nature were 
suffered to see the ight. The same spirit of persecution 
against millenarian doctrine exhibited itself on the 
continent -in the suppression of numerous works, 
“among which may be instanced the Scriptural ¥Ex- 
position and Demonstration of the Millenarian Reign, 
&ec., by Dr. J. W. Peterson, professor at Rostock, in 
1677, and afterwards superintendant at Lunenberg; 
for which publication he was cited before the consis- 
tory of Zell and deposed, and his work withdrawn: 
and likewise a work of S. P. Klettwich, entitled, “ The 
answer which has been demanded to two curious 


* Fathers of the English Church, vol. iv. p.. 608. 
t Elements of Proph. Int., p. 70. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 255 


questions; viz. how long the present world will con- 
tinue—i. 6. whether it will continue for 6,000 years? 
and if not, whether, before the end and total consum- 
mation of this world, ἃ previous, different, bettereand 
more happy world and times are to be hoped for,” 
which work was suppressed by the consistory of 
Leipsic.* 

Nevertheless, the majority of the assembly of West- 
minster divines, when met in 1643, as it appears, both 
from their writings and from the testimony of Princi- 
pal Baillie,} an Anti-millenarian, adopted millenarian 
doctrine. ‘THE MOST OF THE CHIEF DIVINES HERE,” 
says he, meaning the assembly, “not only inde- 
pendents, but others, such -as Twisse, Marshall, Pal- 
mer, and MANY MORE, ARE EXPRESS CHILIASTS.” 

To these may be added the names of Simeon Ash, of 
St. Brides, W. Bridge, A. M., Jeremiah Burroughs, 
A. M., J. Carlyl, A. M:,.T. Goodwin, D. D., W. 
Gouge, D. D., J. Langley, prebendary of Gloucester, 
and Peter Sterry’of London, members of that assem- 
bly, whose writings speak for themselves. Nor is 
there anything in the Westminster confession of faith 
inconsistent with such views ; nothing of 1,000 years’ 
spiritual and religious prosperity before the coming of 
Christ. On the contrary, both in the Confession of 
Faith and the Directory of Worship for the church of 
Scotland, and the Larger and Shorter Catechismst 
there is language which expresses millenarian 
doctrines. . | 

The same may be said of the article of the Reformed 


* Elements of Proph. Int., p. 24. 

{ Elements of Proph. Int., p. 72. 

¢ Confession, ὁ. 32, sec. 3. Larger Catechism, Q. and A., 191. 
Shorter Catechism, Q. and A., 102. 


° I 
256 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


Dutch church, on the subject of the judgment. Mil- 
lenarian doctrine is plainly and honestly avowed in 
the Confession of Faith, published by the Baptists in 
1660,* signed by 41 names, and said to be approved by 
more than 20,000. 

The writings of Mede, who published his Key to 
the Revelations, in 1627, have done more to revive the 
study of the prophecies and to promote millena- 
rian doctrine, than those perhaps of any other man. 
He was the first to open that sealed book; and, un- 


folding the millenarian doctrine, to pour in a light 


never seen before. He stands, in fact, the acknow- 
ledged father of interpreters of that wonderful book. 
Men, whose praise is in all the churches, corresponded 
with him, and acknowledged their obligations to him 
for the information he gave them. Among them were 
Dr. Twisse, prolocutor of the Westminster assembly 
of divines, Samuel Hartlib, Thomas Hayn, Dr. Med- 
dus, Sir W. Boswell, Archbishop Usher, Goodwin, 
Charnock ~ and Hussey, who all avowed their belief 
in the coming and kingdom of Christ. 

We may close the account of this century, says 
- Mr. Brooks, by giving, for the guidance of the student 
of prophecy, some other names of those who are 
known by their sentiments, published within this 
period, to have been millenarian; viz. Doctors W. 
Alabaster, W. Allen, T. Burnet, D. Cressener, W. 
Hakewell, G. Hicks, N. Homes, J. Mather, W. Potter, 
and the following divines abroad and of this country : 
T. Adams, W. Alleine, J. Archer, E. Bagshaw, T. 
Beverly, W. Burton, M. Cary, J. Cocceius, W. Deus- 
bury, J. Durant, W. Erbery, G. Foster, T. Gale, G. 
Hammon, S. Hartlib, E. Huet, J. Hussey, P. De Lau- 


* See the Coming and Kingdom of Christ, by John Cox, p. 132. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 967 


nay, R. Maton, J. Mede, W. Medley, R. Mercer, C. 
S. Nuncius, A. Peganius, δ. Petto, J. Ranew, W. 
Sherwin, and J. Tillinghast. Having ourselves ac- 
cess to but few of the writings of the above authors, 
we give, for the benefit of those who may feel curious 
on the subject, and have greater facilities, the list 
which has been furnished by Mr. Brooks.* 
~ Milton looked for no Millenium till the Saviour— 


Last in the clouds from Heaven shall be revealed 
In glory of the Father, to dissolve 

Satan with his perverted world; then raise 
From the conflagrant mass, purg’d and refined, 
New heavens, new earth, ages of endless date, 
Founded in righteousness, and peace, and love, 
To bring forth fruits, joy and, eternal bliss, 


Nor did Cowper expect that blessed and. glorious 
day until 


The groans of nature in this nether world, 
Which Heaven has heard for ages, have an end 
Foretold by prophets, and by poets sung; 
Whose fire was kindled at the prophets’ lamp, 
The time of rest, the promised Sabbath comes. 
Six thousand years of sorrow have well nigh 
Fulfilled their tardy and disastrous course 

Over a sinful world; and what remains 

Of this tempestuous state of human things, 

Is merely as the working of a sea 

Before a calm, that rocks itself to rest. 

For He whose car the winds are, and the clouds 
The dust that wait upon his sultry march, 
When sin hath moved him, and his wrath is hot, 
Shall visit earth in merey; shall descend 
Propitious in his chariot paved with love, 

And what his storms have blasted and defaced 
For man’s revolt, shall with a smile repair. 


* Elements of Proph, Int., pp. 74, 75. 


I 
258 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


Heber and Watts, and other sweet poets, have sung 
in noblest strains of the same bright hope of a fallen 
ruined world. το 

_ The eighteenth century abounds in writers on the 
subject... Dr. John Gill was very decided in his 
views, The same* author, from whom we quoted 
the list of names in the last century, gives the follow- 
ing additional list of later writers, whose views, often 
differing, and sometimes not confirmed by proof, were 
more or less millenatian. Bishops Clayton, Horseley, 
Newton and Newcome. Doctors P. Allix, G. Frank, 
S. Glass, J. E. Grabe, L. Hopkins of R.I., N. A., J. 
Knight, F. Lee, S. Rudd, and E. Wells. Among the 
divines of lesser degree, T. Adams, of Winteringham, 
R. Beere, J. A. Bengelius, C. Daubuz, R. Heming, J. 
Hallet, R. Hort, R. Ingram, P. Jurieu, J. B. Koppius, 
C. G. Koch, P. Lancaster, A. Pirie, R. Roach, J. Ὁ. 
Scheffer, A. Toplady, E. Winchester. Among the 
laity, Sir I. Newton, H. Dodwell and E. King, Esqs. 

The name of Sir Isaac Newton is sufficient to shield 
the doctrine from the charge of weakness or fanati- 
cism, or of being supported by insufficient evidence. 
He gave his powerful mind two whole years to the 
study of the prophecies, and has avowed his belief in 
the pre-millenial coming of Christ.t 

The contests between prelacy and the puritan 
non-conformist divines, for a time, drove the millena- 
rian doctrine out of the Episcopal church among the 
dissenters; but, during the last and present centuries, 
the tide has turned, and among the most zealous ad- 
vocates of the present day are to be found some of 
the most pious and evangelical, learned and eloquent, 


. Elements of Proph. Int., p. 79. 
t See his Commentary on Daniel, and his Observations on the 
Apocalypse, 


ἐν 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 259 


divines'in the church of England, such as Bickersteth, 

‘Burgh, Fry, Girdlestone, Hales, Hoare, Hooper, 
Hawtrey, Marsh, the Maitlands of Brighton and Glou- 
cester, Madden, Mellville, M’Neil, Noel, Pym, Sirr, 
Sabin, Stuart and others, are to be found among the 
Dissenters, particularly Begg, Cox, Tyso, Baptists ; 
and among the laity, Frere, Habershon, Viscount 
Mandeville, T. P: Platt, Granville Peen, Wood, of 
England, Cuninghame of Scotland, and the late Judge 
Boudinot, of Jersey, and others in our own country, 
men of distinction in their profession, though few, 
comparatively, there is reason to fear, have ever turned 
their attention to the subject. Robert Hall* regretted, 
on his dying bed, he had not preached the millena- 
rian views he entertained. 

Some circumstances have contributed to throw 
odium, not only on millenarian views, but on the 
study of the prophecies—such as the fall of Mr. Ir- 
ving, whose earlier works have thrown much light on 
the subject, the rise and extravagance of different 
fanatical sects, and the erratic conduct of some who 
have adopted part of the millenarian views. This, 
however, is no more valid objection against the doc- 
trine of the pre-millenial coming of Christ, than is the 
same objection when urged by infidels and skeptics, 
with equal foundation, against Christianity. 

Much more decided and influential, however, is the 
opposition which grows out of the common and cur- 
rent views of the Millenium, assumed so extensively, 
and used so frequently and laudably, for urging for- 
ward the missionary and other benevolent efforts of 
the present day, so immensely important and invaluable 
to the world. 

Anti-millenarian views, as at present entertained in 


* El, Proph. Int., p. 82. 


᾿ 
260 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


these United States, are but of recent date. Dr. 
Daniel Whitby, who died A. D. 1726, seems to have 
been the first to reduce them into order. ~ He has 
written a commentary on the Apocalypse, to which 
he has appended a treatise on the Millenium, denying 
the distinctive features of the ancient mi!lenarian 
faith, and spiritualizing the restoration of the Jews, 
the coming of Christ, and the first resurrection. 

In that treatise, Dr. Whitby explains the manner in 
which his mind was led to the views he originated, of 
an allegorical Millenium. He confesses it to be, and 
ealls it a “NEW HYPOTHESIS.” It was excogitated by 
him, wholly by means of the allegorizing or spiritual- 
izing interpretation. The treatise was written to sup- 
port his “hypothesis,” or, as he says, “framed ae- 
cording to it.” He proposes in it—to state the true 
Millenium of the ancients—how far and by whom re- 
ceived and opposed in the first four centuries—to 
show the reasons of his own hypothesis—to answer 
the arguments in favor of a literal resurrection before 
the Millenium—and to offer some arguments against it. 

We are not concerned to review this treatise. It 
has been most ingeniously arranged and written, but 
its arguments are exceedingly sophistical, and it 
abounds in bold assertions without proof. 

We take notice of it, only in so far as it is brought 
forward to invalidate the testimony we have sub- 
mitted. The only fathers whose writings Dr. Whitby 
quotes, in order to set forth the ancient view of the 
Millenium, are Ireneus and Justin Martyr. The ad- 
mission of Justin Martyr, that many Christians of pure 
and pious judgment did not adopt the views he con- 
fessed to Trypho, Dr. Whitby fully claims to be proof 
that Justin’s orthodoxy was of his own asserting. The 
criticism of Mede and Daillé, who very plausibly and 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 261 


forcibly attempt to prove that the word τοί, before 
acknowledge, is an interpolation, he rejects, confirm- 
ing, as he thinks, the reading by the admission of 
lreneus. The reader will find an examination of this 
point in Brooks’ Elements of Prophetical Interpreta- 
tion, who refers to N. Homes, as having actually seen 
some copies of Justin’s Dialogues, according to the 
amended reading of Mede and Daillé. It is entirely 
on this foundation that Dr. Whitby endeavors to prove 
that the orthodoxy of the Christian church on this 
subject, was different from the opinion of Justin. 

It behoved him, however, before hastening to such 
a conclusion, to account for the fact, that all the writ- 
ings of the early fathers, which are extant, contain 
the idea. Barnabas, Papias, Polycarp, Clement, Igna- 
tius, have been referred to, and directly or indirectly 
quoted by us. Dr. Whitby has not noticed them, 
except that he extracts, as from Papias, out of the 
thirty-fifth chapter of Ireneus, certain extravagant 
attempts—surmised, with great plausibility, by Mr. 
Greswell,* to have been incorrectly translated, and to 
be nothing but a general indefinite number, used hy- 
perbolically—to illustrate the fertility of the new 
earth.. This he has done, very unfairly and sneer- 
ingly, to shake our confidence both in the judgment 
and. veracity of Papias. 

‘The authorities that he quotes, in opposition to mil- 
lenarian views, and by which, to prove that the ortho- 
doxy of the early church was not coincident, on this 
subject, with the views of Justin Martyr and Ireneus, 
are Origen, a noted heretic, who taught the eternity 
of the world, and the universal restitution of the 


* Greswell on the Parables, vol. ii. p. 296. 
23 


ν᾽ 


1 
262 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. . 


wicked ; Dionysius of Alexandria, who, according to 


his own historical account of the efforts he made in 


Egypt to suppress millenarian views, labored, by the 
most winning and flattering arts, to shake the faith of 
the churches in Egypt on this subject ; Eusebius, sus- 
pected of Arianism, and who lived after the Platonic 
philosophers had begun to corrupt the church, and 
who was himself, by no means, a candid, impartial, 


and competent judge on this question ; and Epipha-~ 


nius, who opposed the views of Apollinarius, of which 
we shall have occasion to speak hereafter. 
~The arguments which Dr.- Whitby has framed 
against millenarian doctrines, by attempting to trace 
them up to the Jews, and to the sybilline oracles, and 
by noticing the differences between certain of the 
ancient Millenaries, and Millenaries of a later date, 
of the Mede school, are by no means conclusive. He 
does not fairly state the ancient millenarian views. 
Beside, endless shades of difference may be traced, on 
other subjects, among those who, nevertheless, mente 
in the leading and substantial truth 

. Equally inconclusive, too, are the objections found- 
ed on the sensual descriptions in which some indulged, 
who believed in the Millenium of the Chiliasts. . Dr. 
Whitby himself has been surpassed by those of his 
own school, and we might just as well trace the dif- 
ference between them, and found as good an argu- 
ment against his spiritual Millenium, as he has done 
against the Millenaries. He believed and taught the 
conversion of the Jews, their ascendant influence in 
the church, and their probable return to Jerusalem. 
He differed, as he seems by way of apology to con- 
fess, from the ancient Millenaries, only in denying the 
personal reign of Christ.on the earth, the re-establish- 
ment of the theocracy, and the literal resurrection of 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 268 


the. saints,—which, by the way, was a difference in 
three very essential points of their belief. We have 
no hesitation in saying that the Doctor’s treatment of 
the testimony of the Fathers is uncandid, exceedingly 
partial, and would not have been attempted by him, 
but to support his New Hypothesis. His arguments 
and explanations of Scripture, in favor of his hypo- 
thesis, are based on assumptions which have not been 
proved ; and his attempts to show the falsity of mil- 
lenarian expositions are founded on the assumption of 
his own hypothesis. 

Archdeacon W oodhouse, although he adopted the no- 
tion of an allegorical Millenium, or the universal preva- 
lence of Christianity in the earth, nevertheless very 
justly observes, “ It is remarkable that Dr. Whitby, who 
had-declined to comment on the Apocalypse, assigning 
as his motive, that he felt himself unqualified for sucha 
work, has ventured to explain this particular predic- 
tion of the Millenium; which being, as all agree, a 
prophecy yet unfulfilled, is, of all others, the most 
difficult.’’* | 

It is sufficient to condemn the whole treatise that 
his main reliance is on Eusebius, who assigns the 
origin of millenarian views to Papias, not so much as 
a matter of historical verity, as his opinion that Papias 
misconceived tradition because he did not adopt the 
mystical or allegorical interpretation : and who has, 
without reason, questioned the genuineness of the 
Book of Revelation. Dr. Nolont{ has revived the old 
reproach against millenarian views, and reiterated the 


* Woodhouse on the Apocalypse, p. 470. 

Τ' Α και ἥγουμαι τας ἀποστολκας παρεκδεξαμενον διηγήσεις ὑπολαβειν, τὰ Ev 
πυποδειγμασι πρὸς αὐτων μυστικως εἰρημένα μὴ συνεωρακοτα.--- Euseb. Ecc. 
Hist., lib. iii. ch. 39. 

t See “The Time and Nature of the Millenium investigated,” 
by Rev. Dr. Nolon. London. 1831. 


1 
264 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


fallacies of Dr. Whitby. He hasremarked as:histori- 
eal fact, “that.the opinion of the primitive church, 
respecting the nature of the Millenium, received more 
than a tinge of error from the peculiar notions of Pa- 
pias.” On such opinions, and hypotheses, and reason- 
ings, we place but little reliance, when we have such 
decisive testimony as the following, from one* who 
has carefully examined and collated, not a few preju- 
diced and doubtful writers, but the fathers generally. 
“All primitive orthodox Christians expected, accord- 
ing to the words of the apostles, and the promises of 
the prophets, a new heaven and a new earth, at the 
second coming of the Messiah to restore the happiness 
which flourished before the fall of Adam,” &c. 

The early divines of New England, the Cottons and 
Mathers, and their cotemporaries, knew nothing of 
such a Millenium as that invented and advocated 
by Dr. Whitby. The first who gave it their sanc- 
tion in this country, appear to have been President 
Edwards, in the middle of the last century, and Dr, 
Bellamy. But the former looked for terrific judg- 
ments and overwhelming sorrows coming on the 
world before the Millenium, and destined to prepare 
the way by cutting off the wicked, and purifying the 
holy people before the latter day glory. The latter} 


* See Grabe’s Spicilegium Patrum, lib. ii. p. 230.—* Omnes pri- 
meevi Christiani orthodoxi, secundum dicta apostolorum et pro- 
missa prophetarum, novum ccelum et novam terram exspectarunt 
in secundo Messiz adventu, isti restituendum felicitati que ante 
lapsum Adami florebat. Atque hance felicitatem plurimi non in 
spiritualibus bonis, sed et temporalibus posuerunt, persuasi tunc 
solum terre a maledictione ob peccatum Adami, et ei inflicta libe- 
rum fore, ac abundantiam omnis boni sine humano labore prola- 
turum. Que et priscorum Judeorum fuit sententia, ut ex Rab- 
binorum dictis a Raymundo Martini in Pugione fidei—Adductis 
liquet.” 

t See Bellamy’s Works, vol: i. pp. 495-516. 


TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 265 


has carried out the views of Dr. Whitby in a plain and 
interesting description of the Millenium, assumed to be 
allegorical—a season of universal religious prosperity, 
induced and sustained by the instrumentality and influ- 
ences now employed, but then more efficiently, for the 
sanctification of men., The general concert of prayer 
which President Edwards recommended in his works, 
originated with a memorial from certain: ministers of 
Scotland in 1746, the object of which was distinctly 
stated, that Digan in his glory wouid himself appear 
and "ΟΝ Zion.. A recent letter from the churches in 
Scotland, addressed to the General Association of the 
Presbyterian church of the United States, expresses 
the hope of Christ’s speedy personal coming in glory. 
The missionaries generally in the East are said to look 
for his coming. The midnight cry, ‘“ Behold, He 
cometh,” has begun to be sounded, and it is only in 
this country, where the churches generally seem to 
be asleep on this subject, and fatal and dangerous sen- 
timents, and the false, unreasonable, and unphilosophi- 
cal hope extensively obtain, that the advance of civi- 
lisation, the progress of liberty, the improvement. of 
the arts, the extension of commerce, the rapidly in- 
creasing facilities of intercourse among the nations, 
the multiplication of missionaries and missionary sta- 
tions and schools, the increase of revivals, the spread 
of the gospel, the machinery of Bible, and Missionary, 
and Tract societies, and other beneyolent operations, 

are going to meliorate the condition of the world, and 
peacefully and gradually introduce the Millenial Day: 

Alas! the condition of the world presents no reason- 
able prospect of such a consummation. Our hope of 
the world’s redemption rests on a more solid basis— 
even the promise, oath, and covenant of our God, who 
stands pledged to Abraham to make him heir of the 

23* : 


* 


᾿ 
266 TRADITIONARY HISTORY. 


world, and to exalt his Son, our blessed Saviour, King 
of kings and Lord of lords. We rejoice in the cause, 
success, spread, and multiplication of Missions, and 
feel that the church is deeply guilty in not causing 
the gospel to be “preached in all nations for a wit- 
ness,” “that God may take out of the Gentiles a 
people for the glory of his name,” and “the end 
may come ;”” but we look not for the visions of phi- 
lanthropists to be realized, nor for the conversion of 
the world, but for “the blessed hope and glorious 
appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
Christ.” We rejoice in all the good that is done by 
Christian effort and missionary labors, and pray that 
it may be much greater; but, impenitent reader, we 
cannot flatter ourselves into the belief, that a day is 
coming when it will be any easier for you to repent 
and become reconciled to God than it is now. There 
is a day of wrath coming on the world. The nations 
will be “broken with a rod of iron, and dashed in 
pieces as a potter’s vessel.” Now the gospel is 
preached to you; it is “the good news.of the com- 
ing kingdom.” If you do not repent, you can have no 
part in the first resurrection—you must perish im the 
overthrow of the ungodly. How soon the heavens 
shall gather blackness, and the storm of wrath burst 
upon this guilty world, and the nations be dashed 
against each other, we know not; but that Lord Jesus 
Christ, who will shortly come to execute vengeance 
on his enemies, has declared, ‘“ Behold, 1 come as a 
thief. Blessed is he that watcheth and keepeth his 
garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame.””* 
“Watch, therefore, and pray always, that ye may be 
accounted worthy to escape these things that’ shall 
come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.” 


- Rev. 16. 15. t Luke, 21. 36. 


CHAPTER X. 


- 


THE PRINCIPLES OF INTERPRETATION APPLIED, AND THE 
SECOND COMING OF CHRIST SHOWN TO BE PRE-MIL- 
LENIAL. - 


“He shall send Jesus Christ which before’ was 


preached unto you: whom the Heaven must feceive Y¥~ ~ 


until the times of restitution of all things, which 
.God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets 
since the world began.”*. These words suggest the 
theme of this chapter. We quote them here because 
they state the subject in the plainest and most explicit 
terms, and because they furnish an invaluable guide 
for our researches into the predictions concerning the 
SECOND COMING OF oUR LorD anv Saviour Jesus Curist. 

The subject is one of infinite moment. It addresses 
itself alike to our personal hopes and interests, and to 
those of the entire world. It involves the destiny of 
each individual, and that of all the nations of the earth. 
It has formed the object of hope and ardent expectation 
to the pious in all ages. It is the grand epoch for 
the consummation of the blessedness and glory of all 
the saints, both of those now with Christ, and of those 
still alive upon the earth. It.is the hour of Heaven’s 
triumph and of hell’s discomfiture—of the emancipa- 
tion of the righteous and of the destruction of the 
wicked,—of the rescue of this globe from the thraldom 
of the dévit, and of the renovation of all things. 

It is to be the commencement of an eternal era, 
during the first epochs of which the promises of God, 


* Acts 3. 20, 


} 
268 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


which have supported and comforted his believing 
people in all ages, shall be fully and gloriously 
redeemed in all their details, and the universal empire 
of Jehovah consolidated, and for ever protected from 
the invasion of evil, by the righteous adjudications and 
the terrible inflictions of vengeance by Jesus Christ, 
the delegated sovereign of all worlds, on all those of 
the two orders of God’s intelligent creatures who 
have dared to dispute his sovereignty, and to unfurl, 
in his mighty empire, the standard of rebellion. 
Christian reader! it is the hour of your adoption! 
the season of your glorious manifestation! and of 
your participation in the rights, privileges, honors, 
rewards, renown, and inconceivable delights of “ that 
inheritance which is incorruptible, undefiled, and 
fadeth not away, reserved in Heaven for you who are 
kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, 
ready to be revealed in the last time.”* Impenitent 
reader! it is the day of your everlasting horror and 
damnation! “when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed 
from Heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, 
taking vengeance on them that know not God, and 
that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
who shall be punished with everlasting destruction 
from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of 
his power, when he shall come to be glorified in his 
saints and admired in all them that believe.” + 

No theme demands your more serious and devout 
attention ; nor does any require more careful, discrimi- 
᾿ nating, prayerful, and humble investigation. Your 
hopes, your character, your destiny for eternity, as 
well as your peace, consolation, and usefulness in this 
life, depend upon the manner in which it affects -you, 
and the views you entertain relative to it. It is of 


*1Pet.1.4,5. | {2Thess. 1. 7-10. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 269 


infinite moment, therefore, that the Scriptural account 
which God has given of it, by the mouth of his hely 
prophets, should be understood and believed, mstead 
of the devices of -your own imagination, or the 
explanations of human wisdom. 

Peter, in the passage under consideration, asserts 
some facts, about which there can be no mistake, nor 
-even doubt, viz. that there will be ‘a real personal 
manifestation of Jesus Christ, in a mission to this 
world which is yet future ;—that He is now con- 
cealed from the eyes of men by having been. caught 
up into the heavens, and will remain so during his 
continuance there ;—that while He must remain there 
in accordance ἔν ἢ the plans of God, His advent 
should be heralded,.and thus the world be kept advised, 
if they will hearken_to the cry, that his present absence, 
the withdrawment of his corporal presence from the 
earth, is not final and for overs that juet as certainly 
as the Heavens have received, and do now conceal 
him from the view of men, will they again deliver 
him up and disclose him to our eyes, and, that this. 
event will take place when “the times of restitution of 
all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of 
all his holy prophets since the world began,” shall 
arrive. 

There can be no questioning these facts by any one 
who admits as truth supported by sufficient. evidence, 
and receives in the simplicity of faith, the testimony of 
the apostle. The only point of doubt which can be 
raised, is AS TO THE TIME of his coming. The date 
assigned by the apostle is “ the times of restitution of 
all things spoken by all the prophets.” Weare referred, 
therefore, directly by the apostle to the prophets, from 
them to ascertain the time of his coming. That, he 
declares to be “ the times of restitution of all things.” 


1 
270 © THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


If, therefore, we can ascertain what is meant by “ THE 
RESTITUTION OF ALL THINGS,” and wHEN it takes place, 
we shall not err as to the time of the second advent of 
Jesus Christ. 

In the very threshold of this investigation, however, 
we are met by the criticisms and the views of those 
_who adopt the spiritual or allegorical interpretation, 

and who deny the pre-millenial* advent of Christ., The 


*The word pre-millenial is here used in order to prevent a 
periphrasis. In the use of it reference is had to the general 
opinion both of Millenarians and Anti-millenarians, that a‘ period 
of a thousand years has been predicted, during which the earth 
shall enjoy peace and blessedness under the dominion of Jesus 
Christ and his saints, however they may differ from each other as 
to the nature and mode of that dominion, or as to the manner of 
its introduction: and establishment. We- enter not into the dis- 
cussion relative to the question whether the Millenium of the 
Apocalypse, chap. 20. 1-6, has or has not already passed away, 
agreeably to the opinion of Professor Bush, that zealous and 
indefatigable Biblical student, who,—aflirming the dragon of John, 
Rev. 12. 9, and Rev. 20. 2, to be the symbols of pagan Rome, and 
the expressions old serpent, the devil, Satan, to be but synonyms 
not alphabetical expositions, of that symbol, and that both the 
symbolical ejections of the dragon had their accomplishment in the. 
overthrow of paganism by Christianity, from the days of Constan- 
tine and forward—looks not for a Millenium of triumph and glory 
according to the opinion of the ancient Millenarians, but for an 
eternal state of honor and happiness to commence with the intro-- 
duction of a new dispensation, the kingdom come. The ancient 
Millenarians, and the modern also, question not the perpetuity of 
the kingdom of Heaven, although they admit that at the close of a 
thousand years a great epoch will occur, which shall be marked by 
the judgment of the wicked dead raised from their graves, the final 
imprisonment and punishment of Satan for ever, and the adjust- 
ment of the kingdom for eternity. Nor does Mr. Bush differ from 
them in respect of the grand substantial nature of the last and 
glorious dispensation, if we understand him, though denying the 
Millenial epoch, as understood either by Millenarians or Anti- 
millenarians. It is not essential to the argument here, to enter 
into this investigation, . 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAD © | XS τὰν 


the cad body ‘6s spirisialints in our own day an 
country, that the second advent of Christ is not to 
occur till arrer the Millenium. Of course it is’ of 
essential consequence, if possible, to enlist this text in 
favor of this view. This is attempted by a twofold 
method : First, the import of the adverb (αχρι) τρέξε, 
is changed ; and sEconp, that of the word restitution. 
As this is done by criticism, we must:for a for 
moments refer to it. ᾿ 

The word ὑντη, (αχρι), as commonly used, denotes 
the continuance of time, from the period just referred 
to or spoken of, up to a second, or some other desig- 
nated: period. Thus, when I-say, [I shall be from 
~ home to-morrow μη four o’clock, the idea is, I will 
be absent the whole preceding portion of the day, but 
at four o’clock will be at home. This is the correct 
meaning of the original Greek adverb (αχρι). ‘Its 
import in the text is obvious. Christ willbe absent, 
and concealed from us in the Heavens, during the 
whole period elapsing from that in which the apostle 
spoke, to that “of the restitution of all things ;”. but 
then He will return, and no longer be hidden from our 
view. The criticism designed to obviate the force of 
this, adduced by the anti-fanatical author, is that the 
adverb («zg:) unTIL, denotes simply duration, and does 
not imply the idea of termination; and therefore, 
should have been translated during, thus making the 
text mean, “that Christ.is to continue in Heaven 
during, * and to the end of the time of the restitution 
of all “things.” 

We quote a few passages to show the fallacy of 


* Modern Fanaticism Unveiled, p. 207. 


y 


Ϊ 
272 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


this criticism. ‘The former history have I made, O 
Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and 
to teach; purine (ἀχρι) the day in which he was taken 
up.”* The absurdity is apparent. According to this 
criticism the dumbness of Zechariah must have been 
confined to the day on which his son John was born 3+ 
—the wicked revelry of the antediluvians, must have. 
been only during the day on which Noah entered the 
ark ; t—David’s sepulchre must have been with them 
only during that day of Pentecost on which Peter 
spoke ;s—and the long time, during which Paul preach- 
ed, the night that Eutychus fell from the window, 
must have been only during the break of day.|| The 
truth is, this criticism renders the use of this adverb, 
in many places, perfectly absurd and not to be trans- 
lated. It is true, the duration does sometimes com- 
prehend the period referred to, in which case the propo- 
sition involves the idea of duration; but whether it stops — 
at the commencement, or extends to the close of the 
period referred to, depends always on the manner in 
which it is used; as for example, when Paul says that 
they sailed from Philippi and came to Troas in (αχρι, 
until) five days,** his meaning plainly is, that they did 
not arrive at Troas till the close of five days, i. e. 
their voyage lasted five days. If I should say I will 
not eat or drink, until I have pursued the thief, my 
meaning would be different from what it would be, 
were I to say, I will not eat or drink till I am pursuing 
the thief; the word until, in the first instance, express- 
ing duration, till the pursuit was over, and in the 
second case only till it had commenced. But in the 


* Acts, 1. 1, t Luke, 1. 20. t Luke, 17. 27. 
§ Acts, 2. 29. || Acts, 20. 11. 

1 Acts, 13. 6, ἄχρι Hégay, Acts, 20. 4, ἄχρι της ᾿Ασίας. 

** Acts, 20. 6. | 


@ 
THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 273 


passage under consideration, the word until (αχρι) 
cannot be construed to imply duration, throughout the 
times of the restitution of all things. 

Mr. Faber does not found his explanation, however, 
on this criticism ;. but on another whieh he adopts in 
¢ommon with the author referred to. The word resti- 
tution (αποκαταστὰσεὼς) he eontends doesnot denote the 
act of resettling, or restoring all things, but the com- 
pleted result, the actual settlement or restoration of all 
things. If this be the meaning of the word, the text 
furnishes a powerful argument against the pre-mille- ~ 
nial advent of Christ. But this is not the meaning, 
and is disproved by the grammatical rules applicable 
to the case. Verbal nouns among the Greeks are 
derived from the first, second and third persons of the 
perfect passive. Those derived fromthe first person, 
denote the thing done, from the second the act of 
doing, and from the third the doer, as the purifica- 
tion, the act of purifying, and the purifier.* Thus, [ἢ 
the text, the word restitution denotes the act ‘of re- 
settling, and the meaning is until the times of resettling, 
that is, when that great decisive act or series of acts 
is to be performed, which is to restore or resettle all 
things. The appearance of Christ therefore occurs at 
the commencement, and not the completion, of the act, 
or process, or series of restoring aets. 

The common explanation of the spiritualists is, that 
Christ shall not reappear while, or as long as, the 
times of the New Testament continue, i. e. till Chris- 
tianity, which they say, is the means of restering and 
resettling all things, shall have completely secured 


* 1 2 3 
καθαρμα καθαρτις καθαρτης 
ἁρπαγμα αρπαξις αἀρπακτῆς 
ποίημα ποιησις ποιητῃς 


¥ 
1 
214 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


this result. This is the explanation of Schleusner.” 
But this is in opposition to the established grammati- 
cal import of the words.t The act of resettling is not 
to take place till Christ appears; and he does not 
appear during the times of the New Testament. 
Beside, it assumes what. is not asserted by the text, 
and cannot be proved, viz. that Christianity, or the 
New Testament dispensation, is the means of restoring 
all things. The New Testament dispensation is but 
“Tur Goseen” of the kingdom of Heaven to come—the 
glad tidings of its approach. The restitution is to be 
effected by the reappearance of Christ, and the physi- 
cal, providential and retributive agents, and glorious 
power he will employ. The world, and the church 
too, have been inan unsettled condition, from the very 
days of Christ’s ascension to this hour; and there is 
no more prospect now of Christianity’s going to set- 
tle all things, by its enlightening and suasive influ- 
ence, than there was eighteen hundred yearsago, Not 
a solitary kingdom of this world has been recovered 
as yet from the dominion of the god of this world. 
For a season, after the religion of Jesus Christ has 
been introduced among a people, there may have been 
proofs of the new influence ; and in some countries, 
as in Scotland and Geneva, and for a while in some 
of the early colonies that settled on these shores, the 
fear of God and a love of righteousness prevailed to a 
very great extent. But still it could not be said that 
Christ and his saints reigned. The legislative, execu- 
tive, and judiciary powers were not exercised under 


*< Quamdiu tempora N. T. durant, quibus per religionem 
Christianam omnia in meliorem statum sunt redigenda ;” ad loc. 

f "Aroxaracrécis—the restoration of anything to its former state: 
hence, a change from worse to better, melioration, introduction of 
a new and better era. Acts 3. 21; Polyb. 4. 23.:1; Diod. Sie, 20. 
34; Robinson’s Wahl. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. Q75 


the direction and control of religion. The kingdom 
was not placed at the feet of Jesus Christ. And even 
where religion was established by law, and the church 
was superior to the state, the ecclesiastical became as 
corrupt asthe civil government. The union of church 
and state has wrought infinite evil; and few events, 
perhaps, have contributed to greater corruption in the 
church and world, than the establishment of religion 
by law under Constantine, and among the nations of 
Europe. The history of the Reformation discloses 
melancholy facts on this subject. Our Missionaries 
in the Sandwich Islands have had to meet serious 
difficulties, incident to the relations between the civil 
and ecclesiastical powers. The thrones of earth have 
not been occupied by the righteous; and even where 
the monarch and rulers may have been Christians ac- 
cording to the judgment of charity, there has been 
much wanting to prove that the kingdom belonged to 
Jesus Christ. 

Christianity has indeed been the means of saving 
multitudes of individuals, of meliorating often the con- 
dition of society, of restraining the corruptions of 
men, of checking the wicked legislation of rulers, and 
of promoting public morals, general virtue, social 
order, refinements in civilisation, advancement in 
science, and the general intercourse of nations. No 
sooner however has a nation changed its religion, and 
substituted Christianity for paganism, than some new 
forms of corruption or instruments of oppression, or 
efforts of persecution, have shown, that the kingdom, 
THE GOVERNMENT, had not yet been restored to God, 
and was not yet given to “the people of the saints 
of the most High,” but was under the influence and 
control of the secular princes, the selfish politicians, 


l 
276 § THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


the men who sought their own honor and aggrandise- 
ment, and not the interests and glory of Jesus Christ. 
The subjugation of the governments of earth, under 
his control; the restoration of the kingdom to Israel; 
the moral and political renovation of earth ; the estab- 
lishment of the dominion of Heaven or the kingdom of 
God, over this world, have not yet even begun to be 
effected. Yet are these things predicted; and for the 
times of their occurrence we are referred, by Peter, 
to the prophets. They, he says, have spoken of them— 
not one or a few, but all of them, since the world began. 

Our business, therefore, is to examine what the 
prophets have in common predicted, relative to the 
re-settlement or “restitution of all things.” They all, 
he says, look forward to one grand and signal period, 
which he calls “‘ the times of restitution’”—the times 
when all the things the prophets have declared, rela- 
tive to the restoration, shall be fulfilled. Of this 
season, or these times, all the prophets, from the be- 
ginning of the world, have spoken. Every one has 
not predicted precisely the same circumstances and 
events—one referring to one or more, and another to 
different scenes, but all to something or other to be 
accomplished in that season, which Peter calls, “ the 
times of restitution,” and which the prophets them- 
selves have differently designated,* Isaiah and others 
by the phrase, “in that day.” At the very com- 
mencement of this season of restoration, as the very 
first act in the series, which forms the date of its 
introduction, oceurs the second advent of Jesus 
Christ. 

It is not necessary, and is indeed foreign to our 
immediate design in this chapter, to show that Peter 


* Isaiah, 2. 2; 4. 2,3; 10. 20; 11. 10,11. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 977 


states the fact correctly, and that all the prophets, from 
the beginning of the world, have spoken of something 
or other which is to transpire in this season of resti- 
tution. We: might, indeed, show that Enoch,* the 
seventh from Adam, the first prophet of whom we 
read, prophesied of these, saying, “‘ Behold the Lord 
cometh with 10,000 of his saints to execute judgment 
upon all,’ and- also that Noah,t Abraham,{ Jacob,§ 
Job,|| Moses, Balaam,** Hannah,t} David,tt Joel,§§ 
Amos,|||| Hosea, Nahum,*** Isaiah,tt} Jeremiah,{tt 
Ezekiel,§§§ Daniel,|\|||| Zechariah,111 Habakkuk,**** 
Haggai,{ttt Zephaniah,ttit Malachi,§§§§ all prophe- 
sied of the glorious advent of the Lord, and some 
events connected with his coming, to transpire in. the 
last days, the times of restitution. ~ 

It will suffice to adduce those passages which pre- 
dict the millenial coming of Jesus Christ, and which 
more appropriately belong to chronological prophecies. 

The first we cite is from Daniel.|||\||||_ This vision of 
Daniel extends to the times of restitution, even till 
the kingdom is given to the people of the saints of the 
Most High, which is to be everlasting, and all domi- 


* Jude, 14. t Gen. 9. 27. 

t Gen. 17.7, 8; John, 8. 56. δ Gen. 49. 10. 

|| Job, 19. 23-27. « Exod. 15. 17,18; Deut. 32.34—43; 33. 3. 
** Numb. 24. 15-24. tt 1 Sam. 2. 8-10. 

tt Psalm, 2. 8,9; 50. 1-4. §§ Joel, 2. 28-32; 3. 9-17. 
{|| Amos, 2. 4-16; 3. 1-15; 5.27; 9. 11-15. 

at Hosea, 1.9; 10. 10-15; 2. 14-23. *** Nahum, 1. 15. 


Ht Isaiah, 2. 10-21; 9.5; 11.4;°24. 1-23; 30. 25-33; 34. 1-10; 
63. 1-6; 65. 13-15; 65 and 66, passim. 
ttt Jer. 30. 5-24; 31. 27-40; 33. 14-22. 


§§§ Ezek. 34-39, &c. ΠΠ| Dan. 7. 13, 14. 
ana Zech. 14. 1-21. **#* Hab. 3. 3-16. 

ttt Hag. 2. 21, 22; Heb. 12. 26-28. tttt Zeph. 3. 8-20. 
§§§§ Malachi, 3. 2-4; 4. 2, 3. HI !Dan. 7. 7-27. 


24.* 


I 
278 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


nions shall serve and obey their Lord and Redeemer. 
Of this there can be no doubt or dispute. The pro- 
phet describes the fourth universal monarchy or con- 
quering kingdom, that should arise in the world, 
which is the empire of Rome, and which he describesas 
follows: “ After this I saw in the night visions, and be- 
held a fourth beast, dreadful, and terrible, and strong 
exceedingly ; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured 
and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with 
the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts 
that were before it, and it had ten horns ; I considered 
the horns, and behold there came- up among them 
another little horn, before whom there were three of 
the first plucked up by the roots: and behold, in this 
horn, were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth 
speaking great things.”* 

This is a symbolical description of the Roman 
power. Its conquests and ravages are graphically 
and accurately described. In almost every respect 
it differed from the three previous universal mo- 
narchies, the Babylonian, the Medo-Persian, and the 
Macedonian. 

At a period in which this empire should be divided 
into ten kingdoms, Daniel saw an eleventh power 
rising in the midst, which eradicated three of them, 
and displayed prodigious sagacity, and made the most 
lofty pretensions and claims. That this was the 
meaning of the symbol there is no room for doubt, for 
it is interpreted to Daniel. 

« Then I would know the truth of the fourth beast,— 
what it meant, which was diverse from all the others, 
exceedingly dreadful, whose teeth were iron, and his 
nails of brass, which devoured, brake in pieces, and 


* Dan. 7. 7, 8. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 279 


stamped the residue with his feet. And of the ten 
horns that were in his head, and of the other which 
came up, and before whom three fell: even of that 
horn which had eyes, and a mouth that spake great 
things, whose look was more stout than his fellows.” 
“ Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be the fourth 
kingdom upon earth, which shall be diverse from all 
kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, and shall 
tread it down, and break it in pieces. And the ten 
horns out of this kingdom, are ten kings (or king- 
doms, for the word is soused in this chapter,) that 
shall arise, and another shall rise after them, and he 
shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue 
three kings. And he shall speak great words against 
the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the 
Most High, and think to change times and laws, and 
they shall be given into his hands, until a time and 
times and a dividing of time.”* 

The history of the Roman Empire exactly accords 
with this description. It subdued the world ; but, in 
the course of the fifth century, the western- Roman 
Empire, which was appropriately and peculiarly that 
of Rome, was divided into zen distinct kingdoms, by 
the irruptions of the northern barbarians. ‘THe VaNDALs 
led on byjGodesilius, A. Ὁ. 406, into Gaul; by Gunderic, 
A. Ὁ. 409, into Spain ; and by Gezsertc, A. 1). 427, into 
Africa. 2. Tue Svevi, whose kingdom was founded 
by Ermeric, A. D. 407, in Spanish Gallicia and Lusi- 
tania. 3. Tue Atans, who invaded Gaul, A. D. 407, 
under their king, Goar, and were established, A. D. 
4.12, near the Rhine. 4. Tae Burcunprans, who, led 
on by Gundicar into Gaul, A. D. 407, were established, 
A. D. 412, by the emperor’s ceding to them a district 


* Dan. 7. 19-25. 


] 

286 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 

near the Rhine in Gallia Belgica, 5. Tue Franks, led 
on by Theudemir, A. D.407, and firmly established, A. D. 
416 and 417, by Pharamond, in Gaul. 6. Tue Vist- 
cotus, who, A. D.408, under the conduct of Jlaric, made 
themselves masters of Italy, and finally, A. D. 585, after 
various conquests, and wars, and expulsion from Gaul, 
became lords of all Spain. ἢ. The Aneto-Saxons, 
who, A.D.449, planted themselvesin the isle of Thanet, 
and, in the course of a short time, founded the 
primary and original kingdom of Kent, in Britain. 
8. The Hervto-Turine1, who, A.-D. 476 or 479, 
founded the first Gothic kingdom of Italy. 9. THE 
Ostrocortus, who, under their sovereign, Theodoric, un- 
dertook, A.D. 489, the conquest of Italy ; and, A. D.493, 
founded the Italian Ostrogothic monarchy. And 10. 
Tue Lomparps, who conducted, A. D. 567 and 568, by 
Alboin, from Pononia, where they had been estab- 
lished, A. D. 526, by Audoin, founded a kingdom in 
that part of Italy which has ever since borne the name 
of Lombardy. 

This is the account Gibbon gives of the rise of the 
ten kingdoms which were founded within the western 
Roman empire, and adopted by Mr. Faber.* 

It was precisely during the period of the rise of 
these ten kingdoms, during the fifth and sixth centu- 
ries, that the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, acquired 
his mighty and extensive influence, just as the eleventh, 
or little horn, arose on the head of the beast. From 
the very conversion of Constantine to Christianity, 
the influence of this ambitious prelate began to 
be felt. The barbarian invasions in the west, and 
the removal of the seat of the secular empire to Con- 
stantinople, in the east, were peculiarly favorable to 


* See Faber’s Sacred Calendar, vol ii. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 281 


the growth of his influence ; and so successfully was.it 
exerted, that by A.D. 533, when all the ten Gothico- 
Roman kingdoms had been developed, the Em- 
peror Justinian published an edict, and at the same 
time addressed an epistle to the Pope, acknowledging 
and declaring him to be the head of the churches, thus 
conferring on him the incommunicable title of Jesus 
Christ, and putting himself as emperor, and his em- 
pire, by his supreme legislation, under the dominion 
of the Bishop of Rome.* 

This emperor also published a volume of civil law, 
which was adopted throughout the whole extent of 
the Roman empire, and became the basis of the legis- 
lation of Europe, down to the days of Napoleon.” In 
that volume of civil law are to be found the edict and 
epistle of Justinian, creating the Pope supreme head 
of the churches, and the epistle of Pope John in reply, 
acceding to, and sanctioning the act of the emperor. 
These documents, by being published in that collee- 
tion, obtained the stamp of public and. legislative au- 
thority, as the laws of the empire. Subsequently, 
A. Ὁ. 606, the Emperor Phocas confirmed the grant 
made by Justinian, and by that time all the ten king- 
doms had become, in fact, subject to the Bishop of 

Rome, Great Britain, or the Anglo-Saxon, being the 
last brought over by Augustine, A. D. 604. The decree 
of Justinian, and the code of laws which he published, 
based on the acknowledged supremacy of the Pope, 
or Bishop of Rome, and which became thereafter 
the basis of European legislation for centuries, did, in 
reality, change times and laws, and give the saints 
into the hands of the little or episcopal horn, i. e. the 
horn that had eyes, the overseer, the Bishop of Rome, 


* See Cuninghame on the Apocalypse, pp. 262-270, Ox. Ed. 


1 
282 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. © 


by whom they should be, as they have been, worn 
out. Pp hs 8 

The mouth speaking great things belonging to this 
horn, fitly symbolizes the assumed and asserted author- 
ity of the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, as the Vicar of 
Christ upon earth. “He has at various times anathe- 
matised all who dared to oppose him; has laid whole 
kingdoms under an interdict ; has excommunicated 
kings and emperors ; has absolved their subjects from 
their allegiance ; has asserted greater authority, even 
in temporal matters, thansovereign princes ;-and has 
pronounced, that the dominion of the whole earth 
rightfully belongs to him.”* This little horn is reput- 
ed also, as speaking great words against,} i.e. by the 
“side of the Most High, not opposing, but asserting an 
equality with God, which the Bishop of Rome has 
done, being not offended to be styled by his parasites, 
“Our Lorn Gop THE Porz, ANorHeR Gop on EARTH, 
Kine oF xKINGs, aND Lorp oF Lorps, OuR MosT HOLY 
Lorn, THe victorious Gop any MaN IN HIS SEE OF 
Rome, Gop THE BEST AND GREATEST, Vic— Gop, THE 
Lame ον Gop rar vAKELH AWAY THE SINS UF THE WUKLD, 
Tue Most Hoty wuo carriers tHE Most Hoty.” 

The last circumstance noticed of this little horn, in 
this prediction, is, that three of the ten horns or king- 
doms, fell before him. It is historically true—that 
the Herulo-Turingic, the Ostrogothic and the Lom- 
bardic, having their seat in states, “‘ were. necessarily 
eradicated in the immediate presence of the papacy, 
before which they were geographically standing—and 
that the temporal principality which bears the name of” 


* Faber’s Sac. Cal., vol. ii. p. 93. 
t ποῦ Chald. 1.9. Heb. No. 1, latus.—+y inlatus vulg. contra 7. 
- 25.—Gesenius. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE*MILLENIAL. 283 


St. Peter’s patrimony, was carved out of the mass of 
their subjugated dominions.”* The Pope, as the little 
horn, which subdued the three others before it, wears 
to. this day his appropriate triple crown, and answers, 
in every respect, to the description which is given of 
him to Daniel. | 

Having brought this colossal power into view, and 
fixed the term of its continuance, the vision of the 
fourth beast or Roman Empire does not terminate, but 
extends down to the day of judgment. This, the 
vision affirms, is to be at the same time with the de- 
struction of the little horn’s dominion. ~The coming 
of the Son of Man, the destruction of Popery, and the 
establishment. of the dominion of the saints of the 
Most High, are, according to the vision, cotemporane- 
ous. Thus runs the record : “1 beheld, till the thrones 
were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose 
garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head 
like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, 
and his wheels as burning fire. A fiery stream issued 
and came forth from before him; thousand thousands 
ministered unto him, and ten thousand times ten thou- 
sand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the 
books were opened. I beheld then, because of the voice 
of the great words which the horn spake ; I beheld, even 
tillthe beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given 
to the burning flame. As concerning the rest of the 
beasts, they had their dominion taken away ; yet their 
lives were prolonged fora season and atime. I saw in 
the visions, and behold one like the Son of Man came 
with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of 
Days, and they brought him near before them. And 
there was given him dominion, and glory, and a king- 


* Faber’s Sac. Cal., vol. ii. p. 102. 


Ϊ 
284. THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL; 


dom that all people, nations, and languages, should» 
serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, 
which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that 
which shall not be destroyed. 1, Daniel, was grieved 
in my spirit, in the midst of my body, and the visions 
of my head troubled me. I came near unto one of | 
them that stood by, and asked him the truth of all this. 
So'he told me, and made me know the interpretation 
of the things. These great beasts, which are four, 
are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth. But 
the saints.of the Most High shall take the kingdom, 
and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and 
ever.”’* . . 
After having noticed the fourth beast, or Roman 
empire, and the ten horns on its head, or kingdoms 
into which it was divided, he contemplated the horn 
that had eyes, or Popery, and relates, “I beheld, and 
the same horn made war with the saints, and PREVAILED 
_ AGAINST THEM; UNTIL the Ancient of Days came, and 
judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and 
the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. ‘Thus, 
he said, the fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom up- 
on earth, which shall be diverse from all kingdoms, and 
shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, 
and break it in pieces. And the ten horns out of this 
kingdom are ten kings that shall arise, and another shall 
rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, 
and he shall subdue.these kings. And he shall speak 
words against (beside) the Most High, and shall wear 
out the saints of the Most High, and think to change 
times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand 
until a time, and times, and a dividing of time. 
But the judgment shall sit, and they shall take away 
his dominion to consume and to destroy it unto the 


αἱ Dan. vis 9-18, 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 285 


end, And the kingdom.and dominion, and the great- 
ness.of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall 
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, 
whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and ail 
dominions shall serve and obey him.”*. 

Our object is not to give a minute interpretation or 
exposition of this prediction, but only, in so far as it 
is necessary, to bring into view the pre-millenial 
date which it assigns to the coming of Christ. The 
following facts then are not to be questioned,—that the 
judgment, as Daniel describes, the coming of the Son 
of Man, the destruction of the Roman Empire and of 
the papacy, and the establishment of the dominion of 
the people of the saints of the Most High, occur at 
the same season—at the time of the end, when the 
act of restitution begins. Daniel distinctly and une- 
quivocally teaches, that the destruction of the beast, 
and of the little horn, and the setting up of the domi- 
nion of Jesus Christ, are to be secured by the coming 
of the Son of Man. These are events which are to 
occur when Christ comes, in the clouds of Heaven with 
a fiery flame, and which Daniel places before the Mil- 
lenium or establishment and prosperity of the kingdom. 
The argument, therefore, in a few words, is this: 

The fourth beast is the Roman empire. That beast 
is to continue in existence, till there should be ten 
horns seen on its head, i. e. ten kingdoms, into. which 
the Roman empire should be divided. Among those 
horns, a little horn should spring up, which would 
eradicate three, and affect an equality with God; all 
which has been already verified in the barbarian inva- 
sions, the universal supremacy and triple dominion of 
the Bishop of Rome. Both the beast and the little 


* Dan. 7. 19-27. 
25 


286 ΤΗῈ COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 
horn, are to continue, “11 the Ancient of Days should 
stt, and the Son of Man come in judgment, and give the 
dominion to the people of the saints of the Most High. 
The conclusion, therefore, is irresistible, that as Pope- 
ry and the Roman Empire are both to be destroyed 
together, before the dominion is given to the saints ; 
and as they are both to continue till the judgment 
shall sit, and Christ shall come in the clouds of 
Heaven, so his coming must be before the Millenium. 
There are but two methods, by which to avoid this 
conclusion. The one is, by saying, as Dr. Maclaurin 
has done, that the coming of the Son of Man with the 
clouds of Heaven, applies to the ascension of our Lord 
to Heaven, which, apart from the forced meaning that 
it gives to the whole passage, and the violation of all 
chronological order, is utterly in violation of the 
meaning of the original word here employed to express 
his coming. It is never understood to signify ascent. 
The other is, to deny that Daniel’s vision refers to 
the great day of judgment, or to any visible coming 
of Christ at all. This the spiritualist must do, or give 
up the passage as teaching a pre-millenial advent. If 
he does so, then he must never quote this passage at 
all, in proof of a day of final judgment and manifesta- 
tion of Jesus Christ. Mr. Faber has taken this ground, 
and affirmed that Daniel’s description is all symbolical, 
and that therefore the judgment is to be allegorically 
explained, as being merely the providential inflictions 
of Divine vengeance, on Popery and the anti-Christian 
nations; and the coming of the Son of Man here 
spoken of, merely an invisible providential interposi- 
tion of Divine power. Having affirmed the whole 
vision to be symbolical, he says that the symbols are 
taken from the day of judgment, and thus ingeniously 
claims to use it nevertheless, as descriptive of that 
day. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 287 


But this is altogether inadmissible; for there is 
nothing in the fire or flame, or any other, particulars 
in the description, which render it naturally or morally 
impossible to be understood in its plain, obvious, lite- 
ral meaning, so as to require it, according to the law 
of interpretation applicable in such cases, to be re- 
garded a smetaphysical or allegorical. Besides, the 
idea is absurd, that Daniel should borrow symbols from 
the judgment, a scene which he had never witnessed, 
and which, according to the spiritualists’ own showing, 
had not been revealed to him. Such an idea is utterly 
inconsistent with the nature, origin, and character of 
symbolical language. 

‘The passages in Revelations, such as the sixth chap- 
ter, and others which are quoted in proof of this posi- 
tion of Mr. Faber, are not conclusive. It is denied 
that the judgment scene is ever made a symbol. 

It cannot be the case here ; for then must the king- 
dom of the saints of the Most High be symbolical too, 
and not real, which none will pretend ; and Mr. Faber 
particularly will not admit; for he affirms, that the 
kingdom is a kingdom here upon earth—a literal affair, 
which the saznis are to secure, i. e. occupy, or possess 
—a very different thing from the dominion of grace m 
men’s hearts. 

Besides, this is to violate an essential principle of 
interpretation, and utterly to confound every attempt 
at explaining symbols ; for it is to make the antitype 
a symbol of the type, just the reverse of what is usual, 
and what Mr. Faber has taught. What Daniel saw in 
vision we admit was all a scenical representation ; but 
the entire scenes of judgment, such as the casting 
down of the thrones, i. 6. the pitching or setting them, 
the sitting of the Ancient of Days, his garments and. his 
throne, the fiery stream before him, the ten thousand 


] 
288 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


times ten thousand saints, the opening of the books, 
and the coming of one like the Son of Man, with the 
clouds of Heaven, and all the other accompaniments 
of his presence, which were disclosed to him, were but 
the pictorial representation of the real and true judg- 
ment, the real and personal coming of the Son of Man, 
the real redeemed spirits of the just, and the real and 
terrible agents and instruments of vengeance, that 
shall attend upon him, when, at the time of the end, 
the heavens shall reveal him, and he shall come lite- 
rally on the clouds of Heaven to restore all things. 

As such they were understood and referred 
to by the apostles, and by Christ himself. Daniel - 
does not predict a day of final judgment at all, 
if he does not here describe it; and all-those who 
have come after him, and borrowed their descriptions 
of the judgment from him, have radically erred. We 
may also ask, if this be the case, where have we any 
proof at all, that there will ever be a day of judgment, 
in which Jesus Christ will be personally visible ? or 
there be any other kind of judgment, than the signal 
retributions of Providence ? 

By the very same rule of interpretation on the 
spiritualists’ own principles—which makes this passage 
in Daniel to symbolize the retributive dispensations 
of Providence, instead of its being a scenical repre- 
sentation of the great day of final judgment at the 
coming of Christ—we can get rid of all the evidence the 
spiritualist can adduce from the Bible, that there will 
ever be such a day. Let him produce any passage 
whatever, and by this same prophetical canon, which 
he adopts, we shall wrest it from him. 

It is said that Christ speaks of Christ’s literal coming, 
when he says, “then shall appear the sign of the 
Son of Man in Heaven, and then shall all the tribes of 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 289 


earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man coming 
in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.”* 
There is certainly nothing in this language, which 
makes it more likely to be literal, and not allegorical, 
than that in Daniel. Part of it is the very language 
of Daniel; and the events referred to, can be shown. 
to be the very same spoken of by Daniel; so that, if 
Daniel’s prediction in the seventh chapter of the coming 
of Christ, is allegorical, so is Christ’s prediction of 
the same in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew— 
and neither predict a day of judgment and visible 
coming. 

The same may be said of Paul’s prediction, and 
even Acts, ili. 21, may be explained away. It is the 
easiest thing imaginable, to put an allegorical inter- 
pretation on it and others. 

If Daniel’s description of the judgment must be 
allegorically understood, there is just as much reason 
why any other should be. Thus, all the predictions of 
a judgment, may be resolved into mere shadowy dis- 
plays of Divine power, in effecting great political or 
ecclesiastical changes, or great moral and spiritual 
reformations. By giving a figurative or allegorical 
meaning to Daniel’s prediction of the advent of Jesus 
Christ, therefore,—which every one must do who de- 
nies that it will occur before the Millenium,—we are 
cut off from one of the principal sources of proof that 
there ever will be a day of judgment, and a literal 
coming of Jesus Christ at all. Who does not see the 
fallacy of such principles of interpretation ? 

We must be consistent, and carry out our princi- 
ples of interpretation. If Daniel’s judgment and 
coming of Christ be not literal, then are none literal 


* Matt., 24. 50. t 1 Thess. 4. 15¢]7. 
25* 


a 


᾿ 
290 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


whose language is taken from him. But this isa con- 
clusion from which the expectants of a Millenium be- 
fore the coming of Christ will start. Nothing but the 
pre-conceived notion of such a Millenium, ever led 
any to imagine that Daniel’s prediction must be alle- 
gorized. 

The truth is, there is but the one fair, consistent, 
and intelligible interpretation to be put upon it; and 
that is, that Daniel describes, as truly, a literal judg- 
ment, and a literal coming of Jesus Christ, as he does 
the literal destruction of the Pope, and of the Roman 
Empire: and these things he teaches shall both oceur 
together,—both form events to be verified in “the 
times of restitution of all things,” spoken of by all the 
holy prophets since the world began. The coming of 
Christ is first in order. The very first epoch in the 
day of judgment, and the first terrible infliction of the 
vengeance of the Saviour returned to earth, will be 
the utter destruction of Popery, and of the Antichris- 
tian nations. The conclusion is, therefore, unavoida- 
ble, that His sEcoND ADVENT WILL BE BEFORE THE Muz- 
LENIUM. 


CHAPTER ΧΙ. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL, OR PRIOR TO THE 
: DESTRUCTION OF POPERY. 


TuE coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
is the grand epoch of the world’s redemption. It is 
the glorious hope both of saints on earth and saints in 
Heaven. It will be the hour of joy and triumph to the 
whole body of the redeemed, whether they shall be 
found in the flesh or out of the flesh. No wonder, 
therefore, that it was looked for by the prophets, apos- 
tles, and martyrs who died in the faith of his coming, 
with the most intense interest and ardor of desire. 
In like manner should it be by us. 

The circumstance, however, of there being a shade 
of uncertainty thrown upon the time of his coming, 
has led many to think, that it is not so suitable a 
theme for awaking the attention of the mind, for ex- 
citing its fears, and for inducing a preparation for 
eternity, as the approach of death,—an event regarded 
as certainly much nearer, and virtually possessing all 
the importance of the other. It is worthy of remark, 
that the apostles did not so regard it; nor did they so 
write and preach. ‘Their allusions to the death of this 
mortal body, are by no means frequent; and seldom, 
if ever, do they take their motives from it, for the 
purpose of awaking and exciting the ὅδ: of the 
wicked. On the contrary, their references to the per- 


1 
292 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


sonal, visible coming of Jesus Christ are abundant ; 
and their most powerful motives to repentance, and 
to a life of holiness, are drawn from it. So vividly 
and constantly was this great event before their minds, 
that they spoke of it as one by no means very remote ; 
and they often made the impression on their hear- 
ers, that it might be witnessed by some of them, even ~ 
before their death. 

Such seems to have been the effect ae οῖκρο upon 
the minds of some Christians at Thessalonica, by the 
language which Paul employed on this subject, in his 
first epistle to “the church of the Thessalonians.” 
In that epistle, he wrote expressly of the coming of 
Jesus Christ,—of its wondrous and appalling accom- 
paniments,—of the first resurrection,—of the rapture 
of the living saints,—of the sudden destruction which 
should overtake the wicked—of the importance and ne- 
cessity of great seriousness and watchfulness, lest they 
should be surprised by the unexpected occurrence of 
these scenes :— 

“If we believe that Jesus died, and rose again, 
even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring 
with him. For the Lord himself shall descend from 
heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, 
and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ 
shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain, 
shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, 
to meet the Lord inthe air: and so we shall ever 
be with the.Lord; but of the times and seasons, breth- 
ren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For 
yourselves, know perfectly, that the day of the Lord 
so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they 
shall say, Peace, and safety, then sudden destruction 
cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman, with 
child ; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, 


- 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE“MILLENIAL. 293 


are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you 
asa thief. Ye are all the children of the light, and 
the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor 
of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep as do others, 
but let us watch and be sober.* 

In his second epistle, he again mtroduces the sub- 
ject ; but evidently to correct the unnecessary alarm 
and misapprehensions which had been produced m 
their minds. He tenderly cautions them, and endea- 
‘vors to counteract the impression, that that great and 
dreadful day had already begun. “ Now we beseech 
you,” says he, “brethren, by the coming of our Lord 
Jesus, and by our gathering together unto him.” The 
preposition} translated “by” does not refer to the 
motive he employed, but it means, after verbs of 
speaking, of, concerning, respecting. He refers to the 
subjects of his former epistle, which had excited their 
fears, viz. the coming of Christ, the first resurrection, 
the rapture of the saints, and their collection unto him 
in the air. On these points, he entreated them, ‘‘ that 
(they) be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, 
neither by spirit, nor by word, nor letter, as from us, 
as that the day of Christ is at hand. μα ι 

- The word here translated at hand; is not the same 
which Christ and John used, when they preached, 
‘Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”’§ The 
word they used,|| means drawing nigh, approaching 5:-- 
how near in its approach, however, must always be de- 
termined by attending to the subject and times referred 
to by the speaker,—the distance being relative. 


* 1Thess. 4. 14-17, and 5. 1-6. 

t Robinson’s Translation of Wahl’s Clav. Phil., art. ὑπερ. 
1 2 Thess.2. 1, 2; ; § Matth. 3. 2; 4. 17. 
! Hyyixe. 


1 
294, THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


Thus, I may say, on the first day of the week, an- 
other Sabbath is approaching ; and may use, on Satur- 
day evening, the very same phrase; but the remote- 
ness or nearness of the period would, of course, and 
most naturally, be determined by the point of time at 
which I spoke, viewed in relation to the time past. 
So when Christ and John preached, that the kingdom 
of Heaven was approaching, they had reference to the 
period already past, during which the church had been 
expecting that kingdom. Four thousand years had 
rolled over the world, while this hope had been cher- 
ished by one generation after another. It was there- 
fore just so much nearer in the days of Christ, than 
when it was first announced. Supposing that the pe-- 
riod of his coming to Judgment shall be, according to 
the traditions current in his day, at the commencement 
of the seventh millenary, at two thousand years from 
the time of his personal ministry, or sooner, he might, 
with great truth and important meaning, preach the 
kingdom of Heaven was approaching ;—two-thirds of 
the time of expectation having passed away. The 
word approaching, as Christ and John used it, does not 
necessarily mean, what our English phrase at hand 
does, i. e. a very short space, absolutely considered. 
Its import must be relatively understood. Compared 
with the period passed, the kingdom of Heaven was 
then certainly drawing nigh. 

The word, however, which the apostle uses * in this 
place, and which is translated ‘zs at hand,” does not 
mean approaching—something near, but not yet pre- 
sent. Its import is not relative, like that which Christ 
and John used (7yyxe), but absolute. It denotes 
actual interposition, establishment, collocation, or 


*2 Thess. 2. 2, ἐνεστηκεν. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 295 


presence ;* and the idea is that they should not be 
alarmed, as though that day had begun, was present 
then, which some were led to fear might be the case, 
from the fearful prodigies and sights in the heavens, 
and the horrible fate at that time clustering round 
Jerusalem. 

The apostle cautions them against being deceived, 
and proceeds to tell them that a fearful apostasy 
should first take place, and the man of sin be revealed, 
whom he describes, ‘“ Let no man deceive you by 
any means; for that day shall not come except there 
come a falling awayt first, and that Man of Sin be 
revealed, the Son of Perdition, who opposeth and exalt- 
eth himself above all that is called God, or that is wor- 
shipped, so that he, as God,{ (as a god)) sitteth in the 
temple of God, showing himself that he is (a) God.§ 

This description directs us at once tothe Pope, the 
Bishop of Rome, the little horn which Daniel saw 
spring up among the ten horns on the head of the 
beast—the fourth universal or Roman Empire. [{ con- 

cerns us only to state the fact, that the Pope, we mean 
not any one individual, but the whole series of these 
ambitious and arrogant prelates, is the man of sin, the 
son of perdition, titles which the apostle has taken 
from the 7th, 9th and 10th Psalms, where “the wick- 
ed one,” “the enemy, “the man of the earth” that 
oppteseeth: and his horrible fate, are awed described | 
and set forth. 

Popery is a fearful apostasy. It is, in fact and form, : 
a system of idolatry which has grown up in the church 


* See Rom. 8. 32. cvre éveorwra—‘ and neither things present.’’ 
See also 1 Cor. 3. 22; 7. 26; Gal. 1. 4.—See Robinson’s Tr. of 
Wahl, art. ἐνίστημι. 

t'H αποστασια---- 8 apostasy. {Ὥς Θεὸν. 

δ΄'Οτι ἐστι Ocos.—2 Thess. 2.3, 4. 


296 THE COMING. oF CHRIST. PRE-MILLENIAL, 


of God, and having entirely, transformed the gospel of 
Jesus Christ, from its being the glad tidings of salva- 
tion, into the most oppressive form of despotism—from 
its being a pure and purifying religion, into a wretch- 
ed, corrupt, debasing paganism, has baptized it with 
the name of Christianity. 

The following brief account of this apostasy is taken 
from Gibbon. “The Christians of the seventh cen- 
tury had insensibly relapsed into a SEMBLANCE OF PAGAN- 
ism. Their public and private vows were addressed 
to the relics and images that disgraced the temples of 
the East. The throne of the Almighty was darkened 
by a.cloud of martyrs and saints and angels, the ob- 
jects of popular veneration: and the collydrian here- 
tics, who flourished in the fruitful soil of Arabia, in- 
vested the virgin Mary with the name and honors of a 
goddess. The devout Christian, prayed before the 
image of a saint; and the pagan rites of genuflexion, 
luminaries, and incense, again stole into the Catholic 
church. The scruples of reason or piety were silenc- 
ed by the strong evidence of visions and miracles: 
and the pictures, which speak and move and bleed, 
must be endowed with a divine energy, and may 
be considered as the proper object of religious 
adoration. The use and even the worship of images 
was firmly established before the end of the sixth cen- 
tury: they were fondly cherished by the warm ima- 
gination of the Greeks and Asiatics: and the Pantheon 
and the Vatican were adorned with the emblems of a 
NEW SUPERSTITION. The worship of images had stolen 
into the church by insensible degrees: and each petty 
step was pleasing to the superstitious mind, as produc- 
tive of comfort and innocent of sin. But in the be- 
ginning of the eighth century, in the full magnitude of 
the abuse, the more timorous Greeks were awakened 


_THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 297 


by an apprehension, that wnder the mask of Christian- 
ity they had restored the religion of their fathers.* 

One essential branch of paganism was demonology, or 
the worship of canonised dead men and women, call- 
ed demons, a sort of subsidiary, subordinate and inter- 
cessory deities. The Roman Catholic adoration of saints, 
who are just the same,—mere canonised dead men 
and women,—is therefore paganism revived. Jupiter 
or Juno, Osiris or Adonis, Cronos, Astarte or Venus, 
are not indeed the names of their canonised saints and 
herees; but the adoration of Peter, of the Virgin 
Mary, and of the hosts of later canonised saints, whose 
names and days are noted in their calendar, as worthy 
of homage by all Roman Catholics, is in principle and 
essence the ancient paganism—the’ predicted apos- 
tasy. 

Another feature of the Man of sin, is his supremacy 
to the civil magistrate, and in matters of religion, 
What Paul says is literally true; the Bishop of Rome 
opposes and exalteth himself against all that is called 
God or that is worshipped. The word God denotes, 
not only the true object of adoration in Heaven, the 
Supreme Being, but also civil rulers,t those in author- 
ity who are justly deserving of respect. Now, that 
the Pope opposes and exalt himself above all that 
is called God in Heaven, is evident from the fact, that 
he has published his bulls, and undertaken to suppress 
the divine Word which God has given to men to make 
them wise unto salvation. He has set up his own 
decrees in opposition to the truths of God’s revealed © 
will, and insists upon obedience to his counsels and 
will and traditions, in preference to the revealed will 
of God. He has denounced Bible Societies, and those 
who undertake to circulate the Sacred Scriptures; 


* Gibbon. t Psalm 97. 7. 
26 


298 THE COMING OF ome PRE-MILLBNIAL. 


and in every way ahewan, that he accounts his will and 
canons, as of far more authority and importance to be 
known and observed, than the Bible which is the will 
_and word of God. 

Moreover he has exalted ἜΑΡ, above all kings 
and governors, and those that are called gods'on 
earth ; for he has asserted that they derive their power 
from him, and claimed it as his prerogative to pull 
them down or set them up,—has excommunicated 
kings and emperors, and absolved their subjects from 
allegiance to them. And as to his sitting in the 
temple of God, and showing himself that he is a God, 
no clearer proof of this can be desired, than his arro- 
gating to himself thé titles of Supreme Pontiff or High 
Priest, Sanctissimus Dominus, or Most Holy Lord,— 
which belong only to God and to the Lord Jesus 
Christ,—and the language he has held in many of his 
bulls. In that against Elizabeth, Queen of England, 
.Pius V., speaking of his lordly and godlike power in 
the church and world, says, “‘ This one he hath consti- 
tuted prince over all nations, and all kingdoms, that 
he might pluck up, destroy, dissipate, ruinate, plant 
and build.’ The bull against Henry of . Navarre 
and the prince of Condé begins as follows: “ The au- 
thority given to St. Peter and his successors, by the 
immense power of the eternal king, excels all the 
powers of earthly kings and princes. It passes uncon- 
trollable sentence on them all. And if it find any of 
them resisting God’s ordinance, it takes more severe 
vengeance on them, casting them down from their 
thrones, though never so puissant, and tumbling them 
down to the lowest parts of the earth, as the ministers 
of aspiring ποῖον, ἢ 


* Barrow’s Treatise on the Pope’s Supremacy, p. 5. 


ae σον 


THE ‘COMING OF CH&IST PRE-MILLENIAL: 299 


Is is not our design to enter into a minute examina- 
tion of the full prophetic description of Popery, given — 
in the Scriptures. Our object is to exhibit and render 
intelligible the proof of the personal visible coming 
of Jesus: Christ befote the great day of the church’s 
prosperity. In order to this, it becomes necessary to 
show, that the Man of sin and the son of perdition, of 
whom Paul speaks, is the Pope. Thus far the des- 
cription. suits. 

In the following verses* the apostle alludes to the 
oral instruction he had given the Thessalonians, in 
reference to this subject, and gives a general chrono-. 
logical date, by which to ascertain the period of the 
rise and manifestation of the Man of sin. “ Remember 
ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these 
things. And now you know what withholdeth, that 
he might be revealed inhis time. For the mystery of 
iniquity doth already work, only he who now letteth 
will let, until he be taken out of the way, and then 
shall that wicked (one) be revealed, whom the Lord 
shall consume with the spirit of ἜΣ, mouth, and shall 
destroy with the brightness of his coming. 

It is admitted, on all hands, both by Millenarians 
and Auti-inillenarians; that the withholding power is the 
Roman Empire. The fathers did not expect the reve- 
lation of Antichrist, whom they identified with the 
Man of sin, during the continuance of the undivided 
Roman Empire; but they did expect that the disrup- 
tion of the empire would be immediately followed by 
the manifestation of this terrible tyrannical power. 
Tertullian said, ‘‘There is also another and greater 
necessity for our praying for the emperors, even for 
every state of the empire and Roman affairs, because 


* 2 Thess. 2. 5-7. 


1 
300 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


we know that the greatest power impending over the 
whole world, threatening the most horrid calamities, 
and the very end of the world, are delayed by the pre- 
servation of the empire.”’* 

Lactantiust and Jerome express themselves 
strongly to the same purpose; the latter affirming, 
that when the empire of the Romans is to be de- 
stroyed, there shall arise ten kings, who shall share 
the Roman world among themselves, and that an 
eleventh diminutive king shall come, who shall sub- 
due three of those ten kings, and in him Satan shall 
dwell entirely and bodily.{ The reference is obvi- 
ously to the prophecy of Daniel. The papacy arose 
among the ten kingdoms,—and is as distinctly identi- 
fied by Paul as by Daniel,—being the anti-Christian 
power which should continue till, but be destroyed by, 
the coming of Jesus Christ. 

Mr. Faber remarks on this point as follows: “ What 
St. Paul then told the Thessalonians was this: that a 
tyrannical and irreligious power, which he denomi- 
nates the Man of sin and the Jawless one, should as- 
suredly be revealed in its own appointed time, AFTER 


* Est et alia major necessitas nobis orandi pro Imperatoribus, 
etiam pro omni statu Imperiirebusque Romanis, quod vim maximam 
universo orbi imminentem, ipsam clausuram seculo acerbitatisque 
horrendas comminantem, Romani Imperii commeatu novimus retar- 
dari.—Tertul. Apol. adv. Gent. Oper. p. 869. 

t Non imperii dignitas conservabitur, non militie disciplina; sed 
more latrocinii depredatio et vastatio fiet, regnum multiplicabitur; 
et decem viri occupabunt orbem, et partientur, et vorabunt, et 
existet longe potentior, ac nequior, qui tritris deletis Asiam possi- 
debit ; ceteris in potestati sua redactis et abscissis, vorabit omnem 
terram, leges novas statuet, vetcres abrogabit ; rempublicam suam 
faciet, nomen imperii, sedemque mutabit. Tunc erit tempus infan- 
dum et execrabile, quo nemini libeat vivere.— Div. Instit. p. 516. 

t Quoted by Mede, lib. ii. p. 811. 5th Ed. 1664. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 301 


there had been a great apostasy from the primitive 
faith, but ΒΕΡΟΚῈ the arrival of the day of Christ, 
which, they erroneously deemed close at hand: that 
THE COERCING POWER OF THE Roman Empire,* effectually 


*Gr. Μόνον ὃ κατέχων ἄρτι ἕως ἐκ μέσου γένηται. Kai τὸτε ἀποκαλυφ- 
θήσεται ὁ ἄνομος. 

There is here an ellipsis which is common in popular language. 
This has been differently supplied, and the meaning of ὁ κατέχων thus 
determined, as Bloomfield says, “‘ according to the hypothesis of the 
interpreter.” Mede and others, following the old tradition, supplied 
the Roman Empire, and understood it to apply strictly and properly 
to the Western Roman Empire, and were led to date the rise of 
the Man of sin therefore in the year A. D. 476 or 479, in one or 
other of which years Augustus the Roman emperor was deposed, 
a supposition disproved by events. Mr. Faber conjectures with 
apparently very good reasons, that the reference is not to the 
Western Roman Empire, but to the coercing law or power of the 
Roman Empire, which, although it existed in the Eastern empire, 
and nominally extended over the Western, became inefficient in the 
latter, and left the way prepared for the Bishop of Rome to usurp 
dominion. He supplies the ellipsis as follows—é κατέχων νύμος τῆς 
᾿Αρχῆς Popatass “The full import and nicety of the expression,” he 
remarks, ‘“‘ were probably not understood by the Thessalonians : or at 
least it is easy to see, how that, which in reality is not the substance 
of the expression, might hastily be mistaken for its substance. St. 
Paul had said, that THE COERCING POWER OF THE RomAN Empire 
must be removed, ERE THE MAN OF SIN IS REVEALED. THE Co- 
ERCING POWER OF THIS RoMAN Empire was incautiously, though 
naturally enough, deemed synonymous with THE Roman Empire. 
Hence arose the universally prevalent belief in the primitive church, 
that THE RomAN Emprre was the impediment which prevented the 
revelation of the Man of sin, and therefore that previous to his 
revelation, THE RomAN Empire must be removed. Yet St. Paul 
had made no such assertion: and so far was this from being the 
substance of what he had really said, that it conveyed to the mind a 
totally different idea; at the same time, the mistake was so natural 
and easy, that had the apostle committed to writing his entire 
expression, there can be little doubt that it would have excited the 
ferocious jealousy of the imperial government. A prediction that 
THE COERCING LAW OF THE ΒΟΜΑΝ Empire was destined! to be 


26* 


] 
302 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


prevented the revelation of this oppressive tyranny ; 
but that when THE COERCING Law oF THE Roman Em- 
PIRE should be removed from the midst, then the Man 
of sin, no longer réstrained by the strong arm of law, 
but acquiring his predicted character of the lawless 
one, by setting himself up above all law, and by having 
the laws and times given into his hands, should be 
openly revealed.”’* — 

The Papists endeavor to evade the force of these 
things in different ways—one affirming pagan Rome to 
have been Antichrist, another that he has not yet been 
revealed, but is some mighty power hereafter to arise 
in the world; and others still that he has long since 
come. The apostle’s meaning, however, is too plain 
and explicit to be mistaken. 

Other descriptions are given of Popery, which bring 
into view the prohibition of marriage to the clergy, 
the worship of saints and images, the system of 
demonolatry, the ascetic monastic rites, and the ordi- 
nances in relation to meats and drinks and holy days 
and new moons, which form so important a part in 
the canons and ritual of the Roman Catholic church. 
Were it necessary, the identity of the Pope and of 
the Man of sin might be further shown, by a reference 
to these things: but as they are not brought into view 
in the context now under consideration, nor are 
necessary for our argument, we deem it unimportant 
to dwell any longer on this point. It is part and 


removed, would have been deemed by an imperial procurator fully 
tantamount to a prediction, that ror RomAN Empire itself was des- 
tined to be removed: and little regard would have been paid to any 
explanation given by a hated Christian, who was charged with 
circulating treasonable, or at least disaffected, expressions.””— 
Faber’s Sac. Cal., vol. i. pp. 101, 102. 

* Faber’s Sacred Calendar, vol. i. pp. 100, 101. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 303° 


parcel of the testimony of the saints, the witnesses of 
Christ in every age, from the first rise of popery down 
to the present day, that the Pope or Bishop of Rome 
is the Man of sin and son of perdition. 

Now this apostate power, this corrupt system, 
which the apostle told the Thessalonian Christians 
was to arise in the world, he further declares “ the 
Lord,” that is Jesus Christ (for this is his especial 
title in the New Testament*) “ shall consumet with the 
spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the bright- 
ness of his coming.” Of course this system of abomi- 
nations is to continue till the coming or appearance of 
Jesus Christ ; and consequently, that coming must be 
before the Millenium: for the account of the millenial 
glory and blessedness, and of the kingdom and 
dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under 
the whole Heaven, which shall be given to the people 
of the saints of the Most High, is utterly inconsistent 
with the presence of such a power in the earth. 

The introduction of the kingdom of the saints made 
by Daniel is cotemporaneous with the utter destruc- 
tion of Popery. The little horn’s dominion shall, he 
says, be taken away, and the judgment shall sit 
expressly to consume and to destroy it unto the end.t 


* See Biblical Repository, vol. i. pp. 744-776. 
t The first clause ἀναλώσει αὐτοῦ is formed upon Is. 11. 4, and 
. Psalm, 33.6. And ἀναλώσει is used for the ἀνελει of the Septuagint, 
as being a stronger term, denoting total destruction. The next 
clause designates the ease and spread of this destruction, here 
represented by the equivalent term καταργήσει, to utterly destroy any 
force. See 1 Cor. 15. 24; 2 Cor. 3. 7.—See Bloomfield’s Greek 
Testament, vol. 11. p. 34. 

f~ ΝΡ. from ἢ (Syr. et Chald. id. perire fecit, exterminavit.) 
Gesenius. δὴ Chald. id. finem habuit, i. e. completum est vati- 
cinium. Dan. 4. 30. Aph. finem fecit rei. Dan. 2. 44—Dan. 6. 
27. for ever. ’ 


1 
304 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


The phrases consume and destroy unto the end, mean 
utter and final, complete and eternal destruction. It. 
does not respect so much the time during which the 
destroying process is to be carried on, as the absolute 
perfect nature of the destruction. But this destruction 
of Popery, Daniel says, is to take place when the 
judgment sits—when the Son of Man comes, in the 
clouds of Heaven, with the fiery stream issuing and 
coming forth from before him, riding in a tempest. of 
fire. Thus Daniel and Paul agree exactly in their 
description and date, and also in the means by which 
Popery is to be destroyed, and the kingdom of Heaven 
-introduced. Both make the coming of Christ the 
occasion, and for the purpose of exterminating Popery. 

In confirmation of this conclusion we remark, that 
every other description of Christ’s coming in the 
clouds of Heaven to judgment, is connected with some 
event or circumstance referred to by the prophets as 
antecedent to the establishment of the kingdom of 
Heaven, which prove the date of that coming to be 
prior to the great day of the church’s prosperity, 
popularly called the Millenium. Thus, the description 
of his advent given by John, is precisely to this effects 

‘‘And I saw Heaven opened, and behold a white 
horse, and he that sat upon him was called Faithful 
and True: and in righteousness he doth supcE and 
make war. His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on 
his head were many crowns; and he had a name 
written that no man knew but he himself. And he 
was clothed with a vesture DIPPED IN BLOOD, and his name 
is called, The Word of God. And the armies which 
were in Heaven followed him upon white horses, 
clothed in fine linen, white and clean. And out of his 
mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should 
smite the nations: and he shall rule men with a rod of 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 305 


iron: and he treadeth the wine-press of the fierceness 
and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath on his 
vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF 
KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS. And I saw an 
angel standing in the sun; and he cried with a loud 
voice, saying to all the fowls that fly in the midst of 
Heaven, Come and gather yourselves together unto 
the supper of the great God: that ye may eat the 
flesh of kings, and the flesh of captains, and the flesh 
of mighty men, and the flesh of horses, and of those 
that sit on them, and the flesh of all men both free and 
bond, both small and great. And I saw the beast and 
the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered 
together to make war against him that sat on the 
horse, and against his army. And the beast was 
taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought 
miracles before him, with which he deceived them that 
had received the mark of the beast, and them that 
worshipped his image. Then both were cast alive 
into the lake of fire burning with brimstone. And the 
remnant were slain with the sword of him that sat 
upon the horse, which sword proceeded out of his 
mouth, and all the fowls were filled with their flesh.’””* 

This description agrees with that of Isaiaht where 
he describes the Saviour’s coming for the destruction 
of the anti-Christian nations, which we shall have 
occasion hereafter to notice. 

This coming of Christ is described as occurring 
cotemporaneously with the overthrow and slaughter 
of the last grand conspiracy, of the beast and the kings 
of the earth and their armies, against Christ and his 
saints, called “the supper of the great God” made for 
the fowls of Heaven, and so minutely described by 
Ezekiel,{ and referred to by the apostle John,§ in his 


* Rev. 19. 11-21. t Is. 63. 1-6. 
t Ezek. ch. 38, 39. δ Rev. 16. 14-16. 


1 
306 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


prediction of the great battle of that great day of God 
Almighty, when the kings of the -earth and of the 
whole world shall be gathered into a place called in 
the Hebrew tongue Armageddon. . 

It is not necessary here to enter into a minute expla- 
nation of the prophecies relating to this frightful scene. 
The use we design at present to make of the reference 
is, to confirm the argument for the coming of Christ, 
before the Millenium. This we do by directing your 
attention to the following facts, that the beast, i. e. the 
secular Roman empire, and the false prophet, i. e. 
Popery, or the man of sin—both the secular and 
spiritual powers of the Roman empire—are to be 
destroyed together; that to this destruction immedi- 
ately sueceeds the church’s glory and blessedness,— 
and that this destruction takes place in the great day 
of the battle of Armageddon, which John describes to 
beat the coming of Christ. 

The apostle John in another place* describes the 
coming of Christ, and makes it to occur at the period 
when the harvest of the earth is ripe, and the clusters 
of the vine of the earth are gathered into the great 
wine-press of the wrath of God. 

“ And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon 
the cloud one sat like unto the Son of Man, having on 
his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp 
sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, 
crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the eloud, 
Thrust in thy sickle, and reap: for the time. is 
come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth 
is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his 
sickle on the earth, and the earth was reaped. And 
another angel came out of the temple which is in 
heaven, he also having a sharp sickle. And another 


* Rev. 14. 14-20, 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 307 
angel came out from the altar which had power over 
fire ; and. cried with a loud cry to him that had the 
sharp sickle, saying, Thrust in thy sharp sickle, and 
gather the clusters of the vine of the earth; for her 
grapes are fully ripe. And the- angel thrust in his 
sickle into the earth, and gathered the vine of the 
earth, and cast it into the great wine-press of the 
wrath of God. And the wine-press was trodden with- 
out the city, and blood came out of the wine-press, 
even unto the horse- vee by the space of a thousand 
and six hundred furlongs.” 

This scene the apostle makes identical with the 
great battle of the day of God Almighty* above 
referred to, as occurring at the coming of Jesus Christ. 
The symbols by which he deseribes this scene are 


taken from Isaiah} and Joel.t 


Who is this that cometh from 
Edom, with dyed garments from 
Bozrah ? this that is glorious in 
his apparel, travelling in the 
greatness of his strength ? I that 
speak in righteousness, mighty to 
save. Wherefore art thou red 
in thine apparel, and thy gar- 
ments like him that treadeth in 
the wine-fat? 1 have trodden 
the wine-press alone; and of the 
people there was none with me: 
for [ will tread them in mine 
anger, and trample them in my 
fury, and their blood shall be 
sprinkled upon my garments, and 
I will stain all myraiment. For 
the day of vengeance is in my 
heart, and the year of my re- 
‘deemed is come. And I looked, 
and there was none to help; and 
I wondered that there was none 
to uphold: therefore mine own 
arm brought salvation unto me; 
and my fury, itupheld me. And 


* Rev.f19. 15. 


j Isaiah, 63. 1-6. 


I will tread down the people in 
mine anger, and make them 
drunk in my fury, and I will 


- bring down their strength tothe . 


eartit. —ISAIAH. 


For behold, in those days, and 
in that time, WHEN I sHALL 
BRING AGAIN THE CAPTIVITY OF 
JUDAH AND JERUSALEM, I will 
also gather all nations, and will 
bring them down into the valley 
of Jehoshaphat, and will plead 
with them there for my people 
and for my heritage Israel, whom 
they have scattered among the 


“nations and parted my land. Put 


ye in the sickle: for the harvest 
is ripe; come, get you down: 
for the press is full, the fats over- 
flow, for their wickedness is 
great. Multitudes, multitudes 
in the valley of decision; for the 
day of the Lord is near in the 
valley of decision, &¢.— Jorn. 


t Joel, 3. 1,2; 13, 14. 


᾿ 
308 ἸΤῊΕ COMING” ΟΕ CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


The date of the coming of Christ being thus con- 
nected with the national redemption of Israel, is there- 
fore again fixed before the Millenium. a 
In like manner, where the same apostle* again 
speaks of the coming of Christ, his language is so 
strikingly coincident with that of Zechariah, as to 
prove that he had his eye on the very same event 
‘referred to by that prophet. 


Behold he cometh with clouds ; 
and every eye shall see him, and 
they also which pierced him: and 
all kindreds of the earth shall 
wail because of him. Even so, 
Amen.—REVELATIONS. 


And it shall come to pass in 
that day, that I will seek to de- 
stroy all the nations that come 
against Jerusalem. And I will 
pour upon the house of David, 
and upon the inhabitants of Jeru- 
salem, the spirit of grace and of 


pierced, and they shall mourn for 
him, as one mourneth for his only 


. son, and shall be in bitterness for 


him, as one that is in bitterness 
for his first-born. In that day 
shall there be a great mourn- 
ing-in Jerusalem, as the mourn- 
ing of Hadadrimmon in the val- 
ley of Megiddon. . And the land 
shall mourn, every family apart ; 
the family of the house of David 
apart, and their wives apart; the 
family of the house of Nathan 
apart, and their wives apart.— 


supplications: and they shall ZEcHARIAH. 


look upon me whom they have 


The prophecy of Zechariah relates to the destruction 
of the nations that shall conspire against the Jews, and 
to the conversion and restoration of the Jewish people ; 
events which, while they occur cotemporaneously, 
confessedly take place before the Millenium, so that 
we are still further confirmed in the conclusion that 
the coming of Christ is to be pre-millenial. 

In the same way it can be shown, that the coming 
of the Lord with the clouds of Heaven, spoken of by 
the evangelists in Matthew, Mark,§ and Luke,| 
must be pre-millenial. For it is connected in time by 
Luke with the completion of the times of the Gentiles, 
and the re-establishment of the Jewish nation—events 


* Rev. 1. 75 t Zech. 12. 9-12. 
§ Mark, 13. 26. 


} Matt. 24. 30. 
|| Luke, 21. 27. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


309 


admitted by commentators generally to be cotempo- 
raneous with the destruction of the anti-Christian 
nations, and the commencement of the Millenium. 


And then shall appear the sign 
of the Son of Man in Heaven: 
and then shall all the tribes of 
the earth mourn, and they shall 
see the Son of Man coming in 
the clouds of Heaven with power 
and great glory.—MATTHEW. 


And then they shall see the Son 


And then shall they see the 
Son of Man coming in a cloud, 
with power and great glory. And 
when these things begin to come 
to pass, then look up and lift up 
your heads, for your redemption 
draweth nigh.—LvuKE. 


- 


of Man coming in the clouds with 
power and great glory.— Mark. 


Luke says, “And they (the Jews) shall fall by the 
edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into 
all nations ; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of 
the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled. 
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, 
and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of nations, 
with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring ; men’s 
hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those 
things which are coming on the earth; for the powers 
of heaven shall be shaken.”’* | 

Beside these passages which give us chronological 
dates as to the period or season of Christ’s coming, 
there’ are other passagest which refer in general to 
the event, without any chronological marks. 

“ Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless, 
I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man 
sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the 
clouds of Heaven. -And Jesus said, ye shall 
see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, 
and coming in the clouds of Heaven.” 

As the language is obviously taken from Daniel, or 
so nearly like that of his description of Christ’s coming, 


* Luke, 21. 24-26. { Mat. 26.64; Mark, 14. 62. 


27 


Ϊ 
910 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


at and for the destruction of the fourth or Roman 
beast, we cannot Consistently do other than the Spirit 
himself has done, viz. refer to the scene of Daniel’s 
judgment, both for the language and meaning. Where- 
fore Daniel, Isaiah, Zechariah, Ezekiel, Christ, Peter, 
Paul, and John, all agree in the circumstantial and 
chronological descriptions which they have given of 
the coming and kingdom of the Lord, and all of them 
chronologically determine the period of that ae 
to be before the Millenium. 

The only possible method of evading the δῶν of 
this conclusion,—which we think to be demonstration 
incontrovertible,—is to deny the plain literal import of 
the expressions, and to affirm that the phrases, “the 
spirit of his mouth,” “the brightness of his appear- 
ing,” and other kindred forms of speech, such as “ THE 
COMING OF CHRIST,” his PRESEN€E ΟΥ̓ APPEARING, his 
REVELATION OF MANIFESTATION, his “‘ GLORIOUS APPEARING,” 
are to be understood metaphorically or analogically. 
To this the spiritualist is forced. It is impossible for 
him to, maintain the idea of a Millenium, or 1,000 
years’ prosperity and triumph of religion, as he under- 
stands, before Christ’s coming to judgment, in any 
other way. It behoves us, therefore, before we 
dismiss our argument, to settle the question whether 
such expressions are to be literally, or metaphorically, 
or analogically understood. 

And here, iN THE VERY FIRST PLACE, we utterly deny 
that the language in the text, and similar expressions in 
the Scriptures, are metaphorical. It behoves those who 
say they are, to prove it. It is begging the question 
for them to assume it. We must not take their asser- 
tion, nor suffer them to pronounce the expressions 
metaphorical, because ¢hey cannot understand or inter- 
pret them literally, consistent with cheir views of the 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 311 


nature of the Millenium, and of the meaning or the 
time of Christ’s coming. These views are not self- 
evident,—are actually disputed,— must previously be 
established,—and have never yet been proved. 

* When we come to the Bible, it must be as children, 
to learn. We must not interpret its language by our 
conceptions, or preconceived notions of the nature of 
the things spoken of. Nor should we allow any com- 
mentator to tell us, he cannot understand or conceive 
how this thing or the other can be, or that it is utterly 
inconsistent with all his notions of propriety, expe- 
diency, or possibility. His notions are no standard. 
His reason is not the umpire. The question is, What 
has God said 1—and to determine that, we must apply 
the ordinary rules of grammar and rhetoric applicable 
to the style of language in which God, by the prophet, 
speaks. If he uses metaphors, of course the meaning 
must be interpreted accordingly. If he does not, we 
have no right to change his meaning by giving it a 
metaphorical interpretation—an expedient too often 
adopted to cloak men’s ignorance, to excuse their 
indolence, to display their ingenuity, and to wrest the 
Scriptures to their own ends. 

That such language, and similar expressions, em- 
ployed in relation to the coming of Christ to judg- 
ment, or for the establishment of his kingdom, are 
metaphorical, we not only deny, but declare to be 
incapable of proof. And, therefore, although we may 
undertake a task confessedly and always difficult, viz. 
to prove a negative, yet we shall,— 

IN THE SECOND PLACE, undertake to show, that the 
expressions, ‘the spirit of his mouth,” “‘the brightness 
of his appearing,” cannot possibly be construed into meta- 
phor, and are, in common with other phrases employed 
on this subject, always used in the strict literal sense, 
when they occur in the New Testament. 


Ϊ 
. 812. THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


1. We remark, then, in the first place, that there is 
no reason IN THE NATURE OF THINGS, which renders it 
necessary that the phrases, “spirit of his mouth,” 
“brightness of his appearing,” should be understood 
metaphorically. There is nothing absurd, or monstrous, 
or contrary to any intuitive or demonstrated truth in 


the idea of a terrible tempest, or of a visible splen- 


did dazzling appearance of Jesus Christ, when coming 
to judgment. Christ’s person was: actually near by 
Peter and others, when his face shone ‘in splendor like 
the brilliancy of the sun, and his raiment was white 
as the light.* 

Even the spiritualists, too, admit, that when he will 
come to judgment, it will be literally in tempests of 
fire, and with great glory, just as Daniel and Paul, and 
others have described ; so that the expressions being 
not incongruous. nor contradictory, in the nature of 
things, do not necessarily” require a figurative or meta- 
phorical import. 

Besides, when this same Lord Jesus Christ, long be- 
fore he appeared as the babe of Bethlehem, did come 
to this world as Jehovah, the angel of the covenant to 
introduce the Sinaitic diapensotibh; to propose his 
theocracy to Israel, and to pronounce his law in the 
thunders of Sinai, it was precisely in this way,.and 
with these terrible physical agents attendant on his 
presence. There were thunders and lightnings, and 
a thick cloud upon the Mount, and the voice of the 
trumpet exceeding loud, so that all the people that 
was in the camp trembled.t Mount Sinai was alto- 
gether i in a smoke, because the Lord descended upon 
it in fire, and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke 
of a furnace, and the whole Mount quaked greatly. 
And all the people saw the thunderings and lightnings, 


* Mat. 17. 2. + Compare Ps. 68. 17, 18, and Eph. 4. 7-10. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 313 


and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smok- 
ing.* 

The only reason that can be urged, why they 
should be understood figuratively, is, that they de- 
seribe an appearance of Christ BEForE, and For, the 
destruction of Popery -or the Man of Sin, which the 
spiritualist thinks to be inconsistent with all his ideas 
of the Millenium, and of the efficacy of truth. Be- 
fore he can be allowed, however, thus to assign a 
metaphorical or, allegorical meaning to the expres- 
sions, he must prove that his ideas of the Millenium 
are correct,—that just such a Millenium as he expects 
has been promised and described by the prophets,— 
and. that the destruction of Popery is to be gradual, 
by the influence of the Spirit and the Scriptures, or 
the light of evangelical truth, and not violently. He 
must also settle definitely the import of the figures as 
he understands them, and prove that the phrases, 
“‘ spirit of his mouth,” and “ brightness of his appear- 
ing,” are actually used in other places, to denote what 
he says they do. Their alleged metaphorical or ana- 
logical import, in the text, has been declared to be 
the influences of the Spirit, and the light and power 
of a preached gospel. That they are sound, they 
must show, and also, that God has said, Popery shall 
be destroyed by these means. We deny that there is 
anything to this effect in the whole Bible. Whatever 
revivals, or divine influences, and a preached gospel 
may do—and we rejoice in all that they have done, 
and pray earnestly for their greater extent and power— 
we challenge any one to prove, from the Scriptures, 
that these are the things which God, by his prophets, 
has said, will exterminate and destroy the Man of Sin, 


* Exodus, 19. 15, 18, 20; 20. 18. 
nL 


> 


1 ; 
314 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


The Bible, and a preached gospel, and revivals, have 
thus far failed to do it: and we must be shown where 


God has said they are ever going to do it. “So far | 


from this being the case, the apostle* states distinctly, 
that the delusions, superstitions, lymg wonders, and 
deceitful sophistical reasonings, in support of unright- 
eousness, or various’ forms of immorality, which 
characterize the Papacy, shall continue to prevent. the 
reception of the truth, that they might be saved. 
For the proof that these things, especially false rea- 
sonings to justify crime, are part and parcel of the 
Popish system, we refer to Pascal’s provincial letters, 
who was himself a Catholic, and has exposed the hor- 
rible corrupting doctrines of the Jesuits—of all Catho- 
lics the most devoted to the See of Rome. Moreover, 
the apostle says, that so far from the Scriptures, the 
influence of the Spirit, and revivals of religion, going 
to destroy Popery, God, because of their opposition 
to these things, shall send them strong delusion, that 
they should believe a lie; that they all might be 
damned who believe not the truth, but have pleasure 
in unrighteousness. The system reaches a dreadful 
erisis of damnation, ‘its adherents giving themselves 
over to horrible, fatal, damning delusion, because of 
the imposition and lying wonders which they have 
practised in the world; such as the pretended con- 
version of the bread and wine in the Lord’s Sup- 
per into the literal body and blood of Christ, the spu- 
rious miracles wrought by saints, the innumerable 
legends of their superstition, the invention of purga- 
torial flames for the purpose of alarm, oppression and 
extorting of money from the ignorant, and hosts of 
other things which need not be mentioned. There 


* 2 Thess, 2, 9-12. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 315 


is not a ray of hope that the delusions of Popery will 
gradually be dispelled. 

Individuals may escape, who may be brought to 
repentance, and to the renunciation of its abominable 
idolatries ; but the great mass of its adherents will 
cling to it to the very last. At this day there isa 
stronger, blinder, and more devoted attachment to its 
mummeries, and a greater expenditure of money and 
of effort, to sustain and extend its influence and idola- 
tries, than there has been for rae if indeed ever 
before. 

Since the flight of the angel in the midst of Hea- 
ven, having the everlasting gospel to. preach unto 
them that dwell on the earth,*—another angel has 
followed, and the cry has been heard already, Baby- 
lon is fallen, is fallen, foretelling her doom, while a 
third angel begins to lift his solemn and admonitory 
voice, threatening the vengeance of Heaven “to be 
poured out without mixture” for the torment of those 
that shall worship the Beast and his image. God is 
indeed giving warning, abundant and solemn, and 
has been since the French Revolution, in the events 
connected with the degradation of the Pope by Na- 
poleon, and the political disaffection of some of 
the principal states of Europe; yet is the religious 
influence of Rome, at present, exceedingly active and 
extensive, and the zeal and devotion of her worship- 
pers increasing in their intensity. The cause of mis- 
sions, which began some fifty years ago to excite the 
zeal and direct the efforts of a large portion of the 
Protestant churches, has provoked and inflamed the 
ardor of the Roman Catholics, whose missionary con- 
tributions and labors are furnished with the design and 


* Rev. 14. 6. 


] 
316 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL, 


expectation of inundating the world. Whatever suc- 
cess has attended the evangelical missions of the 
churches, and however great have been the moral and 
civil revolutions wrought by their means in some coun- 
tries, till recently pagan—for which we cordially render 
thanks toAlmighty God—still does the question of civil 
government involve a variety of difficulties ; and the 
legislation and execution of law, and dispensation of 
justice, afford abundant proof even there, that the 
kingdoms of this world have not yet become the king- 
doms of our Lord and of his Christ. Christianity has 
not established the dominion of Heaven over the na- 
tions and governments of the earth, any more of late 
years, on our own continent or elsewhere, than when 
Constantine, the Emperor, ae to bow submis- 
sive to its authority. ‘ 

The position which alone can justify a figurative 
import being given to these expressions, is wholly 
without foundation, viz. that Popery is to be destroyed 
by the progressive influence of light and truth. — Indi- 
viduals may and will be saved, but the system comes 
to its death by violence. It will not do, therefore, to 
assume a position which cannot be proved, which-the 
colossal and ancient systems of Islamism, Popery, Bud- 
hism, and other forms of error,—that have for centuries 
prevailed in the world,—proclaim to be unsupported by 
fact ; and in the light of that assumption, and by its 
means, pronounce, as do the spiritualists, the expres- 
sions, “the coming of Christ,” “the brightness of his 
appearing,” “the spirit of his mouth,” mere  meta- 
phorical or analogical expressions. 

2. In the next place, we remark that the reference of 
the apostle to his former epistle, shows plainly that he did 
not intend his readers to understand him as speaking 
metaphorically. In his first epistle to the Thessalo- 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 317 


nians,* he wrote very explicitly about the personal 
visible coming of Jesus Christ from Heaven, with a 
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump 
of God, for raising the bodies of the dead saints, for 
the transformation and rapture of the living saints, and 
for their being congregated to meet him in the air, and 
ever to be with him. He had told themf that the day 
of Christ’s coming would be sudden and unexpected, 
like the coming of a thief in the night ; and that at the 
very moment the wicked would be crying peace and 
safety, sudden destruction should come upon them. 
No one does or will deny that his reference, in his 
first epistle, is to. the personal coming of Christ. It 
seems that some of the Thessalonians were alarmed 
by the thought, and apprehended that that dreadful 
day was actually impending or had commenced. To 
correct this impression, he wrote the context now 
under consideration. 

The day of which he speaks, in his second epistle, is 
the same with that in the first: the great and notable 
day of Christ’s coming. He sets them right as to the 
time—tells them it had not yet begun, and would not, 
till a fearful apostasy should prepare the way for the 
development of the Man of sin, the lawless one, who 
would be bound on earth at his coming, and be de- 
stroyed “by the spirit of his mouth and the brightness 
of his coming.” Now if the apostle spoke metaphori- 
cally, and did not by these expressions mean the 
actual personal coming of Christ, how was it possible 
for him more effectually to have misled and deceived 
his readers ? He was writing expressly, avowedly, 
with special design, on the subject of Christ’s personal 
coming, as the first verse of the secend chapter shows. 


"1 Thess. 4. 15,17.  <. ¢ 1 Thess. 5. 25:3. 


| 1 
318 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


He proceeds to sive cértain great chronological dates, 
to correct the alarm produced by his former epistle 
on the subject. These dates were the apostasy that 
should develope the lawless one. This lawless one 
must first make his appearance ; after that, and during 
his appeatatice and deceptions practised on the earth, 
this “son of pérdition” should be destroyed “by the 
spirit of his (Christ’s) mouth and the brightness of his 
appearing.” He takes his namé, “ the son of perdition,” 
from the signal, marked, and horrible destruction to 
be visited on him by the eee of Christ’s 4 
pearing. 

This title would by no means be appropriate, on 
the supposition that the suasive power and progressive 
influence and inerease of light and truth are going to 
a¢complish the overthrow of Popery. We disparage 
not thé value or the power of truth. None can prize 
it more highly than we do. Nor would we discourage 
the employment of it for the salvation of the poor de- 
luded victims of this base, degrading, and enslaving 
idolatry, a8 well as to counteract the influence and 
effects of thé ntiifierous other forms of error and de- 
fusion, by which men encourage and support each 
other in theit hypocrisy, self-flattery, and oppression 
of their fellows: We rejoice in every attempt to en- 
lighten the public mind, to reform the church, and to 
promote the sanctification of Christians, the meliora- 
tion of human condition, the extension of liberty, 
and the diffusion of happiness, by means of truthful 
appeals and thé circulation of light and knowledge. 
Would that they were a thousand fold multiplied! 
But other instruments are destined of God for the de- 
struction of Popery—that rank and corrupt system, 
which has filled the earth with the stench of its abomi- 
nations. It is a blow of punitive vengeance that is 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 319 


to bring it to the ground—truth taught and enforced 
by. such means! Such has been God’s method from 
the beginning. The antediluvian world, the cities of 
Sodom and Gomorrah, the corrupt cities of antiquity, 
Nineveh, Thebes, Petra, Babylon, Jerusalem, &c., 
“none of them were reformed and ultimately saved by 
the power of truth, pressed on the intellects and con- 
sciences of men by oral or written exhibitions merely. 
The stroke of vengeance was necessary. Nor will 
Rome form an exception. She is indeed in her 
dotage, and her doom is nigh; but that very dotage 
requires something else to correct it than the mere 
light and power of truth. The glorious Reformation, 
it is true, has proved the importance and efficacy of 
the truth as applied by the Spirit of God for the salva- 
tion of individuals—for saving out of her a numerous 
people ; and it may therefore be inferred, as it has 
been, that no other instrumentality is needed. Let 
us but have revivals and spread the truth, it is said, 
and the world will escape from the delusions and 
dominion of the Man of sin. But the Spirit of God 
has not thus seen it fitting to destroy any corrupt sys- 
tem. Providential violence and severe inflictions of 
judgment, sometimes miraculously, wrought deliver- 
ance for the church in Egypt, extirpated the corrupt 
nations of idolators in Canaan, overthrew Judaism, and 
have been and are now wasting Islamism. The very 
Reformation itself, while it has illustrated the value 
and power of truth, has nevertheless demonstrated 
that other means are needed to demolish Popery—this 
master-piece of Satanic delusion ! 

We are thus reduced to the necessity of believing, 
that the apostle meant the literal personal coming of 
Christ, as he comes to inflict vengeance on his ene- 
mies ; and did not speak figuratively. 


Ϊ 
320 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


The nature of the subject on which he spoke, which 
was the personal coming,—the character of the style 
in which he writes of the apostasy and the Man of sin, 
which is neither metaphorical nor symbolical, but 
alphabetical,—and the special design he had in view, 
which was to fix a great chronological date or period 
yet future, when Christ should come,—all forbid the 
thought that he suddenly shifts his subject, and meta- 
phorically describes a signal interposition of Provi- 
dence, a special revival of religion, or anything else 
than the personal coming of Christ. 

If the spiritualist, however, will not be satisfied with 
this, and he still insists that it is an allegorical coming 
of which Paul speaks, then must the coming spoken 
of in the first verse be allegorical, and so must our 
gathering to Christ be allegorical, and that great day 
of Christ be allegorical ; and of course, as he refers to 
the day and coming of Christ spoken of in his first 
epistle, ἐξ too must also be allegorical ; and, conse- 
quently, that Christ’s descending from Heaven with a 
shout, and the voice of an archangel, and the trump 
of God, and the resurrection of the dead saints, and 
the rapture of the living, and the whole of that descrip- 
tion, must be altogether allegorical—the great day of 
judgment itself being nothing, after all, but a figure! 
Verily, if this be the case, the apostle deserves our 
execration. For he professedly, in the first epistle, 
attempts to comfort us in view of the loss of our 
Christian friends, by the prospect of their glorious 
resurrection and return to earth with Jesus Christ ; 
which, if he speaks figuratively, has not a word of 
truth in it. Such is the utterly untenable and absurd 
result to which the figurative interpretation brings us. 

3. But we advance still a step further, and remark, 
that the words which Paul employs here to express the 


- 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLE 


coming of Christ, are never used in any other 
plain literal-sense in the New Testament. The wa 
sion “ spirit of his mouth” is literally the breath or 
wind of his mouth.* There is nothing here which 
necessarily determines it to mean the Holy Spirit. The 
“spirit of his mouth” is not a title of the Holy Spirit, 
nor is the phrase ever used to denote an influence of 
the Holy Spirit. It is indeed in one place} said that the 
heavens and all their hosts “ were made by the breath 
of his mouth ;” but the idea is, very obviously, that 
God created them by his word—the words we utter 
being formed, literally, by our breathing forth articu- 
late sounds. 

There are two ideas which the phrase breath-or 
spirit of his mouth, here, may literally express: either 
a mighty tempest or a mighty voice. The Hebrews, 
in order to express the superlative degree, employed 
the name of God: thus, “the garden of the Lord” 
meant a very fruitful garden, “the cedars of the Lord,” 
very lofty cedars, ὅσο. Sometimes the hand, or the 
arm, or the mouth of the Lord, as the instruments of 
divine power, were used in the same sense.’ To un- 
fold an idiom-of speech is not to spiritualize, but to 
adhere to grammatical construction or interpretation. 
Thus, the breath of his nostrils,t—the blast of his 
mouth,—denoted at one time a mighty wind or tem- 

pest, and at another a mighty and terrible voice. In 
both cases they are Hebraistic modes-of speech, to 
denote something superlative. 

The expression “spirit oF HIS MOUTH,” as used by 
the apostle here, may literally mean a mighty tempest, 
or a mighty voice, or both. The apostle, in his first 
epistle, had said the Lord should descend with a shout ; 
and literally this will be the blast or spirit of his 


* τῳ πνεύματι Tov στομᾶτος αὐτοῦ. tT Ps. 33. 6. t Job, 4. 9. 
28 


ζ΄ 
γῇ CCR, 


Pr = 


Co ey 


4? 
Le 


] τ 
322 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


‘mouth. David* describes Christ’s coming to judg- 


ment, so as to show that the Hebraistic mode of speech 
adopted by the apostle most beautifully and graphi- 
cally expresses, in a few words, the superlative con- 
ception he had of the fiery tempest, lighted up by the 


spirit or breath of the Almighty, and the thundering 


in the Heavens when the Highest gives his voice. 


eee 


oo 


Pees 


Still more forcible is Isaiah’st language, where he de- 
scribes the coming of the Lord: ‘His lips are full 
of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire, 
and his breath as an overflowing stream.” — “‘ The 
breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, doth 
kindle it.”{ With both these descriptions the apostle 
was familiar, and his expression, spirit or breath of his 
mouth, needs no allegorical interpretation, but literally, © 
according to the Hebrew idiom of speech, most hap- 
pily and forcibly expresses the general idea of Christ’s 
coming in the midst of a terrible tempest, in which 
commingle Jehovah’s thundering voice and the fierce 
lightnings, as they blaze from pole to pole. 

As to the other expression, ‘‘ BRIGHTNESS OF HIS 
APPEARING,” (ἐπιφάνεια τὴς παρουσιας,) we defy the in- 
genuity of the best Greek scholar to select, from the 
whole compass.of that rich and expressive language, 
words that can convey, more distinctly, definitely, and 
fully, the idea of a personal visible manifestation of 
the presence of Jesus Christ. The words are, as~ 
closely as they can be rendered into English, the 
APPEARING OF HIS PRESENCE—just such an appearing as 
the shining of the sun or moon in the heavens—rTHE 
EPIPHANY. OF HIS PRESENCE. Each word οἵ itself is 
sufficient to express the idea of PERSONAL MANIFESTA- 
ΤΙΟΝ. But here the two words are put together, to 


' make the idea more explicit. 


* 1 Ps, 18. 7-13. t Is. 30, 27, 28. 115. 30. 33. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 323 


There are three words commonly used in the Greek, 
to denote the personal appearing of Jesus Christ. One 
is ἀποκάλυψις, REVELATION, MANIFESTATION, of Jesus 
Christ. Another is ἐπιφάνεια, APPEARANCE, and the third 
παρουσία, PRESENCE or coMING. The word “REVELA- 
TION,” as applied to Christ, (ἀποκάλυψες,) occurs seven 
times, viz.: in 1 Cor. 1.7; 2 Cor. 12.1; Gal. 1. 12; 
2 Thess. 1.7; 1 Pet. 1. 7 & 13, and 4. 13. In all, it 
denotes his literal manifestation. In Rev. 1. 1, it is 
used as the title of the book of ‘Revelations—the 
ApocatypsE of Christ,—and that for a very obvious 
reason: because that book specially treats of his per- 
sonal coming. 

The second (ἐπιφάνεια) EPIPHANY OF APPEARANCE 
occurs six times in the New Testament. 1 Tim. 6. 
14: “The charge to Timothy to keep this command- 
ment without spot, unrebukable, until THE APPEARING 
(ἐπιφάνειας) of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Again, in 2 
Tim. 1.10: “ Now made manifest by THE APPEARING 
(ἐπιφάνειας) of our Saviour Jesus Christ,” referring to 
his first personal appearing in this world. Again, in 
2 Tim. 4. 1 & 8, where it refers literally to the second 
personal appearing. Also in Titus, 2. 13: “ Looking 
for the blessed hope and glorious spPpEaRING (é7- 
gpuveay) of the great God.” In none of these places 
is it figurative. Its import is literal im all, and there- 
fore in the passage under consideration® there is no 
reason why it should be made figurative. 

‘The third word is Παρουσια, “ comine” or ‘PRE- 
SENCE.” In every instance, too, where it occurs, which 
is twenty-four times, it is used literally, and not meta- 
phorically or analogically.t 


* 2 Thess. 2. 8. 
+ Thus it occurs in 1 Cor. 16. 17; 2 Cor. 7. 6,.7; 10. 
10; Phil. 1, 26; 2.12; and is used to denote the visible coming 


1 
324 THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 


There is another word translated coming,* which 
is sometimes used metaphorically, but not this word ; 
and English readers and commentators have often 
been led astray by not attending to the original Greek 
expressions and discriminating between them. Yet 
this word has been shownj in all the places where it 
is used, in the seven epistles to the seven churches of 
Asia, to denote the literal coming of Christ. The 
word that is used in reference to the coming or 
presence of Christ to destroy Popery, is literal, never 
metaphorical. Invariably, in every instance, in the 
New Testament, it denotes the actual presence of that 
of which it is predicted, whether it be the person of 
Christ, the day of God, or the Man of sin. Thesargu- 
ment, therefore, we think is irresistible. It may ‘be 
now ‘summed up in a few words. The apostle in the 
text is speaking of the personal coming of Jesus 
Christ, for he uses two words, neither of which is ever 
used in a figurative or metaphorical sense in the New 


or personal presence of Stephanas, Fortunatus, Achaicus and 
Paul, to the churches. It is used in Matt. 24. 3, 27, 37,39. It 
oceurs also in 1 Cor. 15. 23; 1 Thess. 2. 19; 3.13; 4.15; 
5. 23; James, 5. 7,8; 2Peter, 1.16; 3.4; 3.12; and 1 John, 
2. 28; and in every instance can only be literally understood. 
Besides these it occurs only inthe 2d epistle of Thess., in the 2d 
ch. 9th v., where it refers to the literal personal coming or pre- 
sence of Antichrist; and in 2. 1, where it has been shown it can 
denote only the personal coming or presence of Christ—and lastly, 
in the passage under review, which, therefore, must not have an 
allegorical or different meaning affixed to it from what it has in 
every other place. Vol. ii. pp. 67-71. 

* ἐρχόμενος. 

t Rev. 2. 5; 22.25; 3.3; 10. 11,20. Also, James,5. 7,9. These 
places are commonly quoted in proof of Christ’s figurative coming. 
But they all relate to one coming yet future. See J. D’A, Hist. 
of the First Resurrection, vol. ii. pp. 67-71. 


THE COMING OF CHRIST PRE-MILLENIAL. 325 


Testament. If neither, when separately used, can be 
metaphorically understood to denote a spiritual ad- 


vent, much less can both when united. If the words». 


the shining forth, or appearance of His presence, do not 
mean the personal visible revelation or manifestation 
of Himself, it is impossible to employ terms that can 
express it. Human language is utterly incapable of 
being interpreted on any fixed and definite principles 
whatever, if it be not a literal personal manifestation 
and coming. But this glorious personal manifesta- 


tion or coming, takes place at the time, and for the ea- 


press purpose, of the destruction of Popery or Anti- 
christ, which it is conceded must take place before 


the millenial day of prosperity. It follows, therefore, 


THAT Jesus CHRIST COMES IN GLORY TO JUDGE THE WORLD 
BEFORE THE MILLENIUM. 


28% 


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Ἢ 
a Ν προσισανο»ο.ὐσπνανο αν αν 


CHAPTER XII. 


THE NATURE OF THE DAY OF JUDGMENT SUPPOSED TO AF- 
FORD AN OBJECTION ‘AGAINST THE PRE-MILLENIAL 
COMING OF CHRIST. , 7 


Our object in this chapter, is to meet an objection 
commonly urged against the doctrine of Christ’s 
coming to, judgment before the Millenium, as. well.as 
to. correct the practical mistake or error. in relation to 
the great day of final retribution, out of which it 
gTOWS. , 

It is a very prevalent opinion, that the day of judg- 
ment, if not a day of twenty-four hours’ length, is 
nevertheless a very short period, during which a 
strictly judicial process is to be conducted ; and that 
for this purpose, all mankind, both the righteous and 
the wicked, are to be simultaneously congregated be- 
fore the judgment-seat of Jesus Christ, to hear the 
sentence of approbation or condemnation, to be then 
pronounced by the great Judge of quick and dead. 
Such is the general account given of it in discourses: 
by those who have undertaken to describe the appal- 
ling scenes of the last great day. 

This general notion of the day of judgment, is sus- 
tained by references to various passages of Scripture, 
which, it is thought, imply evidently the universal 
promiscuous congregation of the living and of the 
dead at the judgment-seat of Jesus Christ. Of course, ' 
it is objected, if such be the process of judgment, it is 
altogether inconsistent with the idea of Christ’s coming 


THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. ᾿ 327 
2 


to raise the dead,.and to change the living bodies οὗ 
his saints, to destroy Popery and.the anti-Christian na 
tions, and to.extend the government of Heaven over 
any remnants of the nations that may yet be left.in 
the flesh. 

It is admitted that chile the general seul. of a 
judgment to come, may be the same according to 
these differing views, yet are they entirely inconsist- 
ent with each other, when regarded as a description 
of the process of that judgment. It becomesius then 
to make our appeal directly to the word of God; and 
to examine candidly, carefully, and solemnly, what 
He has said on this subject. His testimony is our 
sole guide and umpire here. 

- In making this appeal to the scriptural account of 
the day of judgment, we remark as preliminary— 

That it must be borne in mind, and will unquestiona- 
bly be at once admitted, by every intelligent reader of the 
Sacred Scriptures, that all the different accounts of the 
day of judgment, given in the Sacred Scriptures, must 
harmonize with each other. 

These accounts are very numerous and various,— 
some of them incidental and some extended,—some 
delivered by one inspired writer and some by another, 
involving, as a whole, abundant allusions, but not in 
every minute particular identically the same. This 
should not be accounted strange. It is in fact..the 
most natural thing imaginable. It 156 impossible for 
different persons, who have witnessed the same com- 
plicated. series of events, to give a description of 
them, in every minute particular, precisely the same. 
One will give prominence to this class of events, 
another to that:—some will omit incidents deemed 
unimportant, while others will detail.them :—some 
will be more graphic.and comprehensive than others, 


᾿ 1 
998 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT! 


and yet all will agree as to the general outline and 
results. It is just so in the prophetic descriptions 
given us of the day of judgment. It is therefore mani- 
festly improper for us, to single out the description, 
as given by any one writer, and assume it to be the 
grand and leading view, according to which we must 
judge of all the rest. All are but parts of one 
great whole, and it behoves us so to ponder and place 
the different facts, that they shall all harmonize with 
each other. This requires labor and’ study; and es- 
pecially to have our minds divested of any precon- 
ceived notions. The facts must be admitted, just as 
stated by the writer, so far as his testimony goes ; 
and must also be viewed in connection with the spe- 
cific design which he had in communicating them. 

It is the easiest thing imaginable to excite suspi- 
cions, and to make false impressions, in relation to the 
testimony of a witness, by taking it out of the imme- 
diate connection, and viewing it, either entirely apart 
from the circumstances to which it refers, or in the 
light of others never contemplated ‘by him. These 
things are well enough understood, by those accus- 
tomed to examine and weigh the import of testimony. 
We claim, on this subject, the application of the same 
general principles and rules, admitted to be appropri- 
ate and deserving of attention in matters of ordinary 
interest. . 

Following these principles we find: that the sacred 
writers crowd together an immense variety of inci- 
dents and events; denominate and designate ‘the 
period during which they occur, by different titles, as 
“that day,” “the day of the Lord,” “ the day of judg- 
ment,” “the great day of God, " ‘ind the like. Hence 
we formar - 

‘2. That neither the usage of sich common among 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 329 


the prophets, nor the specific character of their descrip- 
tions of the day of gudgment, requires us to believe, that 
the phrase designates a day of twenty-four hours or even 
a very short space. Sometimes the word day is used 
prophetically, todesignate a year, as by Daniel, Eze- 
kiel, and others. At other times it is used to denote 
an indefinite period of time, a dispensation—a long 
series of years possessing the same general character- 
istics. . 

Christ called the period of his personal ministry, 
“a day” lamenting that the Jews had not known 
in that their day the things which make for their 
peace.* The whole period of the children.of Israel’s 
forty years’ journey in the wilderness, was calledia day 
—the day of temptation;} and the apostles icalled the 
Gospel dispensation a day, saying, “now is the accept- 
ed time, and to-day is the day of salvation.”{ 

Isaiah and others of the prophets, but especially the 
former, use the emphatic phrase, “In -that day,” 19 
denote the period of the judgment, though not accord- 
ing to the popular idea; but,.on the contrary, in such 
way as to show that it wasregarded asa season or dis- 
‘pensation during which many wonderful events were 
to transpire in the world. 

With these preliminary remarks, we-are prepared to 
appeal to the laws and to testimony, on the subject 
of the great day of judgment. 

One of the most common and striking -portions:of 
the Sacred Scriptures referred to, which, it 15 objeet- 
ed, conflicts with the idea of -Christ’s -pre«millenial 
coming to judgment, is the twenty-fifth chapter of 
Matthew, the parable of the sheep and goats. In this 
context, it is contended, there is manifestly a deserip- 


* Luke, 19. 42. } Heb. 3. 13, 15. $.2,Cor. 6. 2. 


1 
= THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: 


tion of the great day of final retribution, the post-mille- 
nial judgment, for the Judge, the Son of Man, is 
viewed as seated on his throne of glory, all nations, 
and ail the holy angels with him, as gathered before 
him, the sheep and the goats as separated, and sentence 
pronounced on each according to their deeds. 

In reply to this objection, we admit and feel the ob- 
ligation to adhere strictly and fully to the words of 
Christ, and in doing so we remark— 

“1, That the Saviour evidently does not so immediately 
intend to give a description of judicial processes in the 
judgment scenes, as of certain circumstances connected 
with his coming. 

In Matthew he asserts the general fact of his com- 
ing with his holy angels and the gathering of his 
elect. 

“And then, shall appear the sign of the Son of 
Man in Heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the 
earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man com- 
ing in the clouds of Heaven with power and great 
glory.. And he’ shall send his angels with a great 
sound of a trumpet; and they shall gather together his 
elect from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to 
‘the other.’’* 

) These events, he states, shall occur after the ap- 
pearance of certain signs which he details. 

“ Immediately after the tribulation of those days 
shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not 
give her light, and the stars shall fall from Heaven, 
and the powers of the Heavens shall be shaken.”’} 

The appearance of these signs should as certainly 
foretoken his coming, as the budding of the fig-tree 
does the approach of summer. ‘This idea he illus- 
trates in the parable of the fig-tree.» 


* Matt. 24. 30-31. + Matt. 24, 29. 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL CoMING. 331 


‘*¢ Now learn a parable of the fig-tree: when his 
branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye 
know that summer is nigh. So likewise ye, when ye 
shall see all these things, know that it is near, even 
at the doors—verily | say unto you, this generation 
shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled. Heaven 
and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not 
pass away.’’* 

Having stated the certainty of his coming, he re- 
_ fuses to give information as to its precise time— 
“But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not 
the angels of Heaven, but my Father only ;”’+ but re- 
marks, that the world would be found in the same 
careless, sensual, unbelieving, and supposed secure 
condition, it was in the days of Noah before the 
deluge. 

“ But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the 
coming of the Son of Man be. for, as in the days 
that were before the flood, they were eating and 
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the 
day that Noah entered the ark; so shall also the com- 
ing of the Son of Man be. ‘There shall two be in the 
field, the one shall be taken and the other left. 
Two women shall be grinding at the mill, the one 
shall be taken and the other left.”t 

The obligation to watchfulness, he enforces by com- 
paring his coming to the approach of a thief. 

_“ Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour 
your Lord shall come. But know this, that if the 
good man of the house had known in what watch the 
thief should come, he would have watched, aad 
would not have suffered his house to be broken up. 


* Matt. 24. 32-35. t Matt. 24. 36. 1 Matt. 24. 37-41. 


᾿ 
392 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: . 


Therefore be ye also ready, for in such an hour as 
-you think not the Son of Man cometh.”* 

The importance and obligations, to be faithful: in 
the discharge of trusts and duties, he urges, by the 
parable of the servant, that during his lord’s absence 
‘was inattentive and oppressive. 

ἐς Who then isa faithful and wise servant, whom 
his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give 
them meat in due season’? Blessed is that servant 
whom his lord, when he cometh, shall find so doing. 
Verily I say unto you, that he shall make him ruler 
over all his goods. But and if that evil servant shall 
say in his heart, my lord delayeth his coming, and 
shall begin to smite his fellow-servants, and to eat 
and drink with the drunken ;—the lord of that ser- 
vant shall come in a day when he looketh not for 
him, and in an hour that he is not aware of, and shall 
cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the 
hypocrites; there shall be weeping and ‘Goushing of 
teeth.” + 

In all this context, therefore, he is pressing the fact of 
his coming, for practical uses, instead of describing 
the process of judgment. He continues the same in 
the next chapter, with the evident design of guarding 
against the incredulity and indifference, on the subject 
of his coming, which he foresaw would affect even the 
church at the time of his coming. In the parable of 
the ten virgins he sets forth the slumbering condition 
in which half the church would be at that time; and 
how an immense body, one half of the professors of 
religion, would be confounded, ashamed, rejected, dis- 
mayed, overwhelmed, at his coming, when a portion 


* Matt. 24, 42-44, + Matt. 24, 45-51. 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 333 


of his church should enter into the marriage supper of 
the Lamb, and they be shut out... 

“ Then shall the kingdom of Heaven be likened unto 
the virgins which took their lamps, and went forth to 
meet the bridegroom. And five of them were wise, 
and five were foolish. They that were foolish took 
their lamps, and took no oil with them; but the wise 
took oil in the vessel with the lamps. While the 
bridegroom tarried they all slumbered and slept. And 
at midnight there was a cry made ; behold the bride- 
groom cometh, go ye out to meet him. ‘Then all 
those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the 
foolish said unto the wise, give us of your oil, for our 
lamps are gone out. But the wise canine saying, 
not so, lest there be not enough for us and you, but 
go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. 
And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came ; 
and they that were ready went in with him to the 
marriage; and the door was shut. Afterwards came 
also the other virgins, saying, Lord, Lord, open tous. 
But he answered and said, verily I say unto you, I 
know you not. Watch, therefore, for you know 
neither the day nor the hour when the eae of Man 
cometh.’’* ᾿ 

Then, for once, poor formal professors, whose 
hearts have not been given to Christ, whose minds 
are not on him, whose confidence is not placed in 
him, but who are drowned in the cares and pleasures 
of the world, sunk in stupid carelessness and ease, 
shall awake to realize their awful condition, and begin 
earnestly to seek and pray. Terror, confusion, dis- 
may, will overwhelm them. ‘They will then knock at 
the door of mercy, and seek to enter in, but it will 


* Matt. 25. 1-13. 
29 


38. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: | 


be too late for them. Their carelessness and folly, 
their guilty slumber, and being content with the form 
of godliness, while denying its power, will prove 
their ruin. All will be shut. out from his marriage 
feast, that have not been truly converted and sancti- 
fied in heart. 

In the parable of the talents the Saviour sets forth 
the rule of judgment that shall be adopted in reference 
to his church. 

“For the kingdom of Heaven is as a man travelling 
into a far country, who called his own servants, and 
delivered unto them his goods. And unto one he 
gaye five talents, to another two, and to another one, 
to every man according to his several ability, and 
straightway took his journey. Then he that had re- 
ceived the five talents, went and traded with the same, 
and made them other five talents. And likewise he 
that had received two, he also gained other two. But 
he that had received one, went and digged in the 
earth, and hid his Lord’s money. After a long time 
the Lord of those servants cometh and reckoneth with 
them. And so he that had received five talents came 
and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou 
deliveredst unto me five talents, behold, I have gained 
beside them five talents more. His Lord said unto 
him, well done, thou good and faithful servant ; thou 
hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee 
ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy 
Lord. He also that had received two talents, 
came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two 
talents, behold, 1 have gained two other talents beside 
them. His Lord said unto him, we!l done, good and 
faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few 
things, | will make thee ruler over many things, enter 
thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then he which had 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 335 


received the one talent came, and said, Lord, I knew 
thee that thou wert an hard man, reaping where thou 
hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not 
strawed ; and I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent 
in the earth: lo! there thou hast that is thine. His 
Lord answered and said unto him, thou wicked and 
slothful servant, thou knewest that reap where I 
sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed. 
Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to 
the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have 
received mine own with usury. Take therefore the 
talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten 
talents ; for unto every one that hath shall be given, 
but from him that hath not shall be taken away, even 
that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable 
servant into utter darkness: there shall be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth.”’* 

ΑΙ his professed followers, who style themselves 
his servants, shall be rewarded or punished for their 
improvement or neglect of the talents, the abilities, 
opportunities and privileges allotted to them. The 
three servants represent different classes of professors 
of religion. All who do not live to some profitable 
account, who do not exert a wholesome and saving 
influence in the world, shall be rejected; but those 
who were awake and active, and lived to the honor 
and glory of Jesus Christ, shall be rewarded accord- ᾿ 
ingly: The idea evidently is, that the honors and 
distinctions which Christ, at his coming, will put upon 
his followers, will be according to their devotion to 
his honor and interests. This is the process of judg- 
ment, which begins at the house of God. It is not 
the judgment of his enemies but his professed friends. 


* Matt. 25, 14-30. 


l 
336. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: . 


Neither the parable of the ten virgins, nor of the 
talents, therefore, describes the judgment of the world, 
or the judicial process instituted against the openly 
wicked, but the judgment of the church of God. 

-Tn the parable of the sheep and the goats, the 
Saviour brings into view another and very important 
circumstance connected with his coming—the separa- 
tion which should be made between the sheep and 
the goats, and the gathering in of the elect. 

“When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, 
and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit 
upon the throne of his glory. And before him shall 
be gathered all nations, and he shall separate them 
one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep 
from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his 
right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the 
king say unto them on his right hand, come ye 
blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared 
for you from the foundation of the world. For I was 
an hungered and ye gave me meat, I was thirsty and 
ye gave me drink, I was a stranger and ye took me 
in; naked and ye clothed me; I was sick and ye 
visited me; I was in prison and ye came unto me. 
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, 
when saw we thee an hungered and fed thee? or 
thirsty and gave thee drink? when saw we thee a 
stranger and took thee in? or naked and clothed 
thee ? or when saw we thee sick or in prison and 
came unto thee? And the king shall answer and 
say unto them, verily, I say unto you, inasmuch as ye 
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren 
ye have done it unto me. Then shall he say also 
unto them on the left hand—depart from me, ye cursed, 
into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his 
angels. For I was hungered and ye gave me no 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 337 


meat ; I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink; I was 
a stranger and ye took me not in; naked and ‘ye 
clothed me not; sick and in prison and ye visited me 
not. Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, 
when saw we thee an hungered, or athirst, or a 
stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not 
minister unto thee t Then shall he answer them, say- 
ing, verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it not to 
one the least of these, ye did it not to me. And these 
shall go away into everlasting punishment ; but the 
righteous into life eternal.”* > 

This passage is the main reliance of those who deny 
the pre-millenial coming of Christ, and maintain a 
universal, promiscuous resurrection, and simultaneous 
judgment of the race. It behoves us, therefore, to give 
it very strict and close attention. 

The hearers of Christ, when he delivered his dis- 
course, were his κεῖ δία, who came privately to him 
as he sat on the Mount of Olives, saying, tell me 
when shall these things be? And what shall be the 
sign of thy coming and of the end of the world 17 

The passage now under consideration is part of the 
discourse he delivered to his disciples in answer to 
these questions, and embraced in the twenty-fourth 
and twenty-fifth chapters of Matthew. In the twenty- 
fourth chapter, he had said, that after certain events 
predicted to occur previously, they should see the sign 
of the Son of Man in Heaven, when all the tribes of 
the earth shall mourn, and they should see the Son of 
Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and 
great glory, with his angels, and a great sound of a 
trumpet, and they should gather together his elect 
from the four winds, from one end of Heaven to the 


‘ 
* Matt. 25. 31-46. t Matt. 24. 3. 
29* 


I 
338 |. THE DAY OF JUDGMENT:, ᾿ 


other. It is to this same event he alludes in the con- 
text, Matthew, 25. 31, &c. For he evidently. resumes 
the subject, and givesa more particular account of 
this gathering together of the elect. ‘“ When the Son 
of Man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels 
with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his 
glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations,” 
out of*which the separation of the righteous from the 
wicked should be made, just as a shepherd divides the 
sheep and goats, mixed up in the same flock. The 
special events alluded to in these places, are,—the 
gathering of ali nations before him,—the separation of 
the sheep from the goats,—and the gathering of the 
elect together from the four winds, from one end of 
Heaven the another. These events, he says, shall 
occur when the Son of Man cometh. The coming of 
the Son of Man itself, as has been already hinted, is 
alluded to as something admitted and well understood 
by his disciples; which their question proves, since 
they evinced no doubt about the fact, or the nature of 
that coming, but asked only as to the sign of it, and 
of the end of the world. . 

The allusion, therefore, is, without doubt, to Daniel’s 
prediction, relative to the coming of the Son of Man. 

“1 saw in the night visions, and behold one like the 
Son of Man came, with the clouds of Heaven, afd 
came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought him 
near before him. And there was given him dominion, 
and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, 
and languages, should serve him; his dominion is an 
everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and 
his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”* 

In this prediction it is distinctly stated that, when he 


* Dan. 7. 13, 14, 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 339 


should come, there would be given him dominion, and 
glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations and lan- 
‘guages should:serve him. The idea is, very plainly and 
explicitly, that he shall have the universal sovereignty 
‘im the earth, which the empires of the beasts should 
continue to exercise till his coming. This sovereignty 
15 to be exercised by the Son of Man over nations in 
‘the flesh,—for the phrase, “ peoples, nations, and lan- 
guages,” is the very phrase which Nebuchadnezzar 
and Darius used when they addressed their subjects 
and inscribed to them their decrees, and is indeed 
the phrase which Daniel uniformly employs to denote 

the inhabitants of earth subject to the imperial sway. — 

“ Then a herald cried aloud, To you it is command- 
ed, O people, nations, and languages.”* ‘“ Then 
Kine Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and lan- 
guages, that dwell in all the earth; peace be multi- 
plied unto you.” 

The prediction, then, of the transfer of the nations of 

“the earth, from the sway of Imperial rulers to the do- 
minion of Jesus Christ, is exactly what is elsewhere 
predicted, that he shall be “ king over all the earth.” 
The event, therefore, referred to by the Saviour, both 
in Matt. 24 and 25, being the same with that of 

“which Daniel speaks, must be the separation or divi- 
sion between the righteous and the wicked. 

“And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man 
in Heaven, and then shall all the tribes of the earth 
mourn, and they shall see the Son of Man comirg in 
the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory.” 
* And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a 
trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from 
the four winds from one end of Heaven to the other.”"t 


*Dan.3.4. Dan.6.25. ft Matt. 24. 30, 31. 


| ie 
340 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: . 


‘* When the Son of Man shall come in his glory, and 
all the holy angels with him, then shallhe sit upon 
the throne of his glory: and before him shall be 
gathered all nations, and he shall separate them one 
from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from 
the goats.”’* ὁ 

This separation shall take place, when he comes to 
set up his kingdom in this world. But this, as Daniel 
shows, and as has been already fully proved, is to occur, 
not at the close, but at the commencement of the 
Millenium ; and consequently the judgment, of which 
the Gewious speaks in the twenty-fifth chapter, is, like 
that of the twenty-fourth, pre-millenial, and altogether 
unlike, in its attendant circumstances, to the final 
judgment spoken of in Rev. 20. In that last conelud- 
ing scene of the great day of judgment, the dead, 
small and great, stand before God and are cade 
ed; the seas give up their dead, and death and hell de- 
dene up the dead in them, and they are individually 
judged, every man according to his works. This is 
unquestionably an universal resurrection and congrega- 
tion of the dead, which is to occur at the close of the 
᾿ς Millenium. But in the discourse of Christ under consi- 
deration, he does not say a word about the resurrec- 
tion of the dead. . Whatever allusion there may be 
to any resurrection is implied in the nature of the 
events to which he refers. 

The events here particularly referred to, are to 
characterize the well understood epoch of his coming 
of which he had spoken. Those events are the 
gathering of the nations in the flesh before him, 
the separating between the righteous and the wicked 
found in them, and the gathering of the elect. Not 
a word is said about a resurrection. 

* Mat. 25. 31, 32. 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE*MILLENIAL COMING. 341 


2. We remark, in the second place, that the language. 
of the Saviour necessarily confines his meaning to man- 
kind existing on the earth at the time of his coming. 

The phrase nations* is never applied to the dead, 
but always to masses of men and women, living on 
the earth together, under some form or other of or- 
ganized government. This being the most common 
meaning and use of the word, we cannot extend its 
import according to the objection we are considermg, 
so as to embrace the innumerable hoststhat have gone 
down to the grave in all ages, and from all nations. 
They exist, not as nations in the regions of the dead, 
and therefore cannot come forth to judgment as na- 
tions, but shall come as the throng of “ the dead,” just 
as John; who more especially speaks of their judg- 
ment, describes, “ And I saw the dead, small and. great, 
stand before God, and the books were opened ; and: an+ 
other book was opened, which is the Book of Life, and 
the dead were judged out of those things which were 
written in the books according to their works. And 
the sea gave up the dead which were in it, and death 
and Hell delivered up the dead which were inthem, and 
they were judged every man according to his works.” 

Such being the fact, we are not at liberty to assume 
that the Saviour, when speaking of all natzons being 
gathered before him, out of which the goats shall be 


* See Scapula. Also Robinson’s Tr. of Wahl’s Clav. Phil. In 
Rev. 21. 24, it does not denote a swarm, a multitude; for the paral- 
lelism in the text shows that they were regarded as having “ kings.” 
Of course the proper ideaof the word “nation” isinvolved. Τὰ ἔθνη 
is indeed used as a noun of multitude, to denote the Gentiles or 
nations of the earth, in contradistinction from the people of God, 
or Jewish nation, but not so as to exclude the idea of organization. 
So also is the Hebrew word >v.—Gesenius says, LXX. satis con- 
stanter oy reddunt dads, 13 ἔθνος, Vulg. gens, unde etiam in N. T. 
Ta ἔθνη opponuntur τῷ λαῷ θεοῦ ᾿Ισραὴλ, Luc. 2, 32. 

t Rev. 20. 12,13. 


1 
34.2 ) THE DAY OF JUDGMENT :, 


separated from the sheep, is describing the process of 
final judgment to be passed upon the dead. Where- 
fore, the account he gives, of the gathering of the na- 
tions before him, and separating the sheep and the 
goats, must be understood as applying solely to the 
nations in the flesh, at the time of his coming, and not 
to the hosts of the righteous and the wicked, as though 
they were simultaneously raised from the dead at a 
final judgment. And this conclusion, so inevitable 
from these premises, is further confirmed by the fact 
that, in the account of the judgment given by John,* 
there is no mention. made of rewards, but only of the 
judgment and punishment of those men whose names 
were not found written in the Book of Life. 

- 3. We remark, in the third place, that there are two 
or three circumstances of such essential difference, be- 
tween the account of Christ in this parable, and the 
apostle John’s account of the final act of judgment, that 
they cannot at all be made to refer to the same events. 
The first is, that the everlasting fire, into which the 
goats are sent, is said to be “prepared for the devil 
and his angels,” and is identically the same with “ the 
lake of fire”+ into which Satan is to be cast, and tor- 
mented day and night for ever and ever. Now the 
phrase, prepared for, implies plainly that the devil and 
his angels had not yet been cast into it, when the goats 
are ordered to depart into it. Satan is bound for a 
thousand years at the coming of Christ, and the goats 
are cast into the fire long before him. But in John’s 
account the wicked dead, at the last act of judgment, 
are cast into the lake of fire, after Satan had been cast 
there.{| The nations and the dead, therefore, cannot 
be the same. | 


* Rev. 20. 11-15. , t Matt. 25. 41. 
1 Συναχθήσεται ἔμπροσθεν αὐτοῦ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη.----1αῖϊ. 25. 32. 


NO OBJECTION. TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 343 


A second circumstance of essential difference is, 
that John’s account, “And the devil that deceived 
them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, 
where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall 
be tormented day and night for ever and ever,’’* does 
not cast the devil and his angels into “the lake of 
fre” until the end of the thousand years, a long time 
after the beast and the false prophet had been cast in. 
But the beast and the false prophet, which we have 
seen are the secular Roman Empire and the Pope, 
the Man of sin—the system of Papacy with its blinded 
adherents—are cast. into the lake of fire before the 
Millenium, as is manifest from this passage: “ And 
the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet 
that wrought miracles before him, with which he de- 
ceived them that had received the mark of the beast, 
and them that worshipped his image. These last were 
cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone,’ } 
as we showed in the last chapter—destroyed at the com-. 
ing of Christ, “by the spirit of his mouth.and the bright- 
ness of his appearing.” The nations, therefore, spoken 
of by Christ, cannot be the promiscuous dead of whom 
John speaks. This leads ustoremark— | 

4. In the fourth place, that the gathering of all na- 
tions before him, of which he speaks here, is not and 
cannot be understood to refer to, or to be effected by the 
promiscuous resurrection of the dead. This is proved 
by the fact just above noticed, that they are the na- 
tions, 1. 6. those living on the earth, and not the dead, 
that are to be gathered before the Son of Man. The 
word translated “gathered” in Matthew, where Christ 
says, “and before him shall be gathered all nations,” 
(συναχθησεται,) does not always denote the actual as- 


* Rev. 20. 10. ft Rev. 19. 20. 


344 THE DAY OF revcuniey 


sembling into one place. It is used to denote the idea 
of conjunction, alliance, or formation of one society : 
“And not for that nation only, but that also he should 
gather together in one the children of God that were 
scattered abroad,’*—the organization of different 
parts or ΑΘ ΜΑΙ before paper nts; under one head or 
government.} 

This idea of the net at once directs us to what 
Daniel predicted, when the different peoples, nations, 
and languages, on the face of the whole earth, should 
be gathered into one kingdom, i. e. all dominions be 

consolidated and bound together under Christ, their 
_ head, who is to rule them in conjunction with his 
saints. “1 saw in the night visions, and behold one 
like the Son of Man came with the clouds of Heaven, 
and came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought 
him near before him; and there was given him do- 
minion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, 
nations, and janguages, should serve him: his do- 
minion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not 
pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be 
destroyed.”{ ‘This was by no means a new idea, as 
delivered either by Christ or Daniel. It was dis- 
tinctly brought into view in the Abrahamic covenant, 
in which God engaged that Abraham should be “the 
father of many nations,” yea, that “in him should all 
the families of the earth be blessed ;” which promise 
Paul interprets as having souatinesed Abraham “ the 
heir of the world,” and which promise will be redeem- 
ed when Jesus Christ, the son or seed of Abraham, and 
all Abraham’s faithful seed together with him, shall 
inherit the kingdom to be given at the coming of 


* John, 11. 52. 
¢t Kypke Obs, Sac. Ἐ. Ip. 392. Wettstenius’ N. T. Ts. 920. 
t Dan. 7. 13, 14. 


Ὄ 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 345 


Christ—“ the kingdom prepared from before the 
foundation of the world.” ‘And I will bless. them 
that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee, and 
in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”’* 
ἐς Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, 
but thy name shall be Abraham, for a father of many 
nations have I made thee.” ‘For the promise that 
he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abra- 
ham or to his seed through the law, but through the 
righteousness of faith.” { ; 

Jacob had his eye on the same, when uttering his 
prediction that the Messiah should come out of Judah, 
and to him should be “the gathering of the people.” 
‘The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a law- 
giver from between his feet, until Shiloh come ; and 
unto him shall the gathering of the people be.’’§ 

David sang of the same glorious event, when he ex- 
claimed, “ Sing praises to our King, sing praises ;’ for 
God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with 
understanding. God reigneth over the heathen (the 
nations): God sitteth upon the throne of his holiness. 
The princes of the people are gathered together, even 
the people of the God of Abraham; for the shields of 
the earth belong unto God: he is greatly exalted.” 
“When the people are gathered together, and the 
kingdoms, to serve the Lord.”’|| 

Isaiah, too, had descried this same ΝΕ ΒΕ event ; 
for, κανίαὺ said, “Behold, the Lord will come with 
fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render 
his anger in fury, and his rebukes with flames of fire,” 
he adds, in the very language of the Lord, “it shall 


_* Gen. 12. 3. t Gen. 17.5. t Rom. 4. 13. ° 
δ Gen. 49. 10—the mm np, congregatio, ecclesia Domini. 
! Psalm 102, 22. 


30 


' H 
346 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: -᾿ 


come, that I will gather all nations and tongues, and 
they shall come and see my glory.’’* 

' Paul, also, in the most explicit manner, speaks of 
this marvellous procedure in the strongest terms, when 
he refers to the mystery of the Divine will in Jesus 
Christ, “that in the dispensation of the fulness of 
times he might gather together in one all things in 
Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on 
earth, even in πη. 

Thete 3 is, then, to be a gathering of the nations bes 
fore Christ, which has been the subject of prophecy 
from the earliest period, and which is to take place at 
his coming; but which is not to be consummated by 
a universal resurrection from the dead. Attention to 
the harmony of the prophets, therefore, requires us to 
believe, that the gathering of the nations spoken of by 
Christ, which is to take place at his coming, must be the 
organization of his universal dominion over the nations 
in the flesh; during which, it is declared by several 
prophets, especially by Isaiah, that they shall not only 
be incorporated together as one great universal 
dominion, but, doubtless by their princes and represen- 
tatives, assemble themselves before him, and behold his 
glory. In confirmation of this view we further remark, 
that the word translated “ gathered,” in Matt. 25. 31, 
as applied to the nations, and which does not neces- 
sarily always mean collection, or assembly az the same 
place, is not the same with the word in Matt. 24. 31, 
δπισυναξουσι, where it is said the angels shall “ gather , 
his elect.” This latter word does denote the collect- 
ing together in the same place. It is obvious, how- 
ever, that there is no contradiction between the two 
accounts ; for the elect spoken of in Matt. bes 31, and 


* Isaiah, 66. 15, 18. f Epil. 1. 10. 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 347 


congregated in one place from under the whole hea- 
vens, are not the “‘all nations” that are gathered to- 
gether before Christ at his coming, spoken of in Matt. 
25. 32. 7 2 

There is yet another idea which here deserves atten- 
tion, and to which the harmony of the predictions re- 
quires it to. be given, viz. that at the coming of Christ» 
the nations of the earth will be actually assembled to- 
gether, by their armies and rulers, in the last fearful 
conflict or war of Gog and Magog, as described by 
Ezekiel,* and spoken of by John. “The spirits of 
devils,” the latter says previously, “go forth unto the 
kings of the earth, and of the whole world, to gather 
them τὸ the battle of the great day of God Almighty, 
—and he gathered them together into a place called 
Armageddon ;”} which event occurs in immediate con- 
nection with the coming of Christ. Thus it appears, 
that, by the immense armies and alliances of nations 
with their crowned heads and rulers, they will be 
᾿ς actually, at his coming, gathered before him; so that 
whether we understand the expression, “gathered 
before,” &c., to denote the ultimate consolidation of 
his dominion, or a local assemblage of the nations in 
their last grand and bloody campaign on the field of 
Armageddon, or perhaps both; the gathering of all 
nations before Christ, spoken of in Matt. 25.32, cannot 
mean the universal resurrection of the dead. 

We incline to the belief, that the gathering of the 
nations, referred to by Christ, denotes both the ideas 
just stated; for itis by the assembling of the nations 
at the great battle of Armageddon, under their kings, 
and captains, and rulers, and by the destruction of 
their great armies, that the then existing governments 
of the earth will be utterly broken up, their national 


* Ezekiel, ch. 38. t Rev. 16. 14-16. 


qT; 
348 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: . 


organizations destroyed, and the way prepared for the 
erection of the new sovereignty, Heaven’s dominion, 
which shall, under the new dispensation, re-organize 
the remnants of the destroyed nations, and the heathen 
nations that shall be left, and concentrate them in one 
blessed and glorious kingdom. | 
There are some facts set forth by the prophets, on 
this subject, of great moment. The first is, that while 
the anti-Christian nations are to be destroyed, the 
heathen, or the Gentile nations, i. 6. those nations which 
had not been anti-Christian, “ shall be given to Christ, 
and the uttermost parts of the earth for his posses- 
sion.”* . The gospel is to be preached for a witness 
among all nations, i.e. among the Gentiles, and then 
the end should come. Still farther, Jerusalem, we are 
told, should be trodden down of the Gentiles, till the 
times of the Gentiles be fulfilled; blindness was to 
happen to Israel till the fulness of the Gentiles be 
come in,i.e. tillthe times of the Gentiles be fulfilled: 
but at that period, when the anti-Christian powers 
should be broken down, and the sovereignty on earth 
be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, 
a wonderful and marvellous change should take place: 
The remnants of the nations would repent and give 
glory to God. Nations should be born in a day; and 
the glory of the Gentiles, like a flowing stream, should 
pour into Jerusalem, as the great centre and capital of 
the new dominion to be established: on the earth. 
‘“‘ And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left 
of all the nations which came against Jerusalem, shall 
even go up from year to year to worship the King, the 
Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 
And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the 
families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the 


* Psalm 2. 8. 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 349 


King, the Lord of hosts, even upon them shall be no 
rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come 
not, that have no rain ; there shall be the plague, where- 
with the Lord shall smite the heathen that come not 
up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the 
punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations 
that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. In 
that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, 
HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD; and the pots in 
the Lord’s house shall be like the bowls before the 
altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem, and in Judah, shall 
be holiness unto the Lord of hosts; and all they that 
sacrifice shall-come and take of them, and seethe 
therein: and in that day there shall be no more the 
Canaanite in the house of the Lord of hosts.”* 

“Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen 
such things? shall the earth be made to bring forth in 
one day? or shall a nation be born at once? foras ' 
soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. 
Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth 1 
saith the Lord: shall I cause to bring forth, and shut 
the womb? saith thy God. Rejoice ye with Jerusa- 
lem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice 
for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: that ye 
may suck and be satisfied with the breasts of her con- 
᾿ solations ; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with 
the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the Lord, 
behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the 
glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall 
ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be 
dandled upon her knees. As one whom his mother 
comforteth, so will I comfort you; and ye shall be 
comforted in Jerusalem. And when ye see this, your 


* Zech. 14. 16-21. 
30* 


1 
350 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: | 


heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like 
an herb: and the hand of the Lord shall be known | 
toward his servants, and his indignation toward his 
enemies. For behold, the Lord will come with fire, 
and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his 
anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 
For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with 
all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. 
They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves 
in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating, 
swine’s flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall 
be consumed together, saith the Lord. For I know 
their works and their thoughts; it shall come, that I 
will gather all nations and tongues, and they shall 
come, and see my glory. AndI will set a sign among 
them, and I will send those that escape of them unto 
the nations, to Tarshish, Pul, and Lud, that draw the 
bow, to Tubal, and Javan, to the isles afar off, that 
have not heard my fame, neither have seen my glory ; 
and ‘they shall declare my glory among the Gentiles. 
And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering 
unto the Lord, out of all nations, upon horses, and in 
chariots, and in litters, and upon mules, and upon swift 
beasts, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, 
as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean 
vessel into the house of the Lord. And I will also 
take of them for priests and for Levites, saith the Lord. 
For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I 
will make, shall remain before me, saith the Lord, so 
shall your seed and your name remain. And it shall 
come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and 
from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to 
worship before me, saith the Lord. And they shall go 
forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that 
have transgressed against me: for their worm shall 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 351 


not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they 
shall be an abhorring unto all flesh.”’* 

5. 1 remark farther, that since “THE GATHERING OF 
ALL NATIONS BEFORE Curist,t} which takes place at his 
coming, must be understood to refer to something which 
shall occur among THE NATIONS IN THE FLESH, 80 “* THE 
GATHERING TOGETHER OF THE ELECT” from the four 
winds, from one end of Heaven to the other,{ must also 
refer to something of the same nature. This gathering 
of the elect together, cannot mean the resurrection of 
the dead bodies of the saints, for they are already as- 
sembled with the Lord, and come with him, as asso- 
ciate judges, to sit with him in judgment, and rule 
the nations. It is among the first acts, indeed, in the 
process of judgment, to enrobe their disembodied and 
invisible spirits with their risen bodies; but this isa 
very different thing from gathering them together. 
They have been gathered together with Christ by the 
death of their bodies, and shall come with him in 
triumph. The saints, the redeemed from among men, - 
are the holy ones of whom Enoch prophesied, when © 
he said, “behold the Lord cometh with ten thousand 
of his saints,” &c.3§ they, too, are the holy angels 
with whom Christ says he shall come in the glory of 
his Father; the spirits of the dead saints that Paul 
says he shall “bring with him.” “For if we believe 
that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also 
which sleep in Jesus, will God bring with him.’’||. The 
word “ ANGELS” means messengers, and does not always 
of necessity mean the pure unembodied spirits that 
have never sinned, whom God has employed in past 
ages, and employs still, as his messengers or minister- 


* Isaiah, 66. 8-24. ἃ Matt, 25. 32. t Matt. 24. 31. 
§ Jude, 14. Ι 1 Thess. 4. 14, 


1 
352 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT? . 


ing spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be 
heirs of salvation. 

Besides, the saints, in their raised bodies, are to be 
the messengers of Jesus Christ,* at his coming, for ga- 
thering together his elect, and by this very process 
they take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom even 
for ever and ever, according as Daniel has declared. 
They come as joint heirs with Jesus Christ; are sent 
forth as his own messengers; and, having gathered 
together his elect, sit down with Christ on his throne, 
as he sat down on the Father’s throne, and reign with 
him, as kings and priests of the most high God. “And 
if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs 
with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we 
may be also glorified together.” ‘To him that over- 


* The words are, τοὺς ἀγγέλους airs’ ,—atrov here has the same 
force as favrov, and means, * his own.” It can mean nothing else, as 
in Rev. 2. 18, δι odes αὐτου, his own, and not another’s. The an- 
gels, or messengers, will accompany the Saviour at his coming. 
They are called his mighty angels, the messengers of his power— 
his powerful, miraculous messengers, per’ ἀγγέλων δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ. 
These his angels or messengers accompany him at his coming. 
But, from 1 Thess. 4. 14, it appears that the saints which now 
sleep in Jesus, are to be his attendants when he comes. Also, 
from Zech. 14, 5, the same is evident: “The Lord my God shall 
come, and all the saints with thee.” ‘ The reapers are the angels,” 
Matt. 13. 39,—v: de θερις αἱ ἄγγελοί efotv,—the reapers are messen- 
gers, definitely described in Matt. 24. 31, as his own, the attendant 
messengers or accompanying saints. To Nathaniel, Christ said, 
‘hereafter ye shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God 
ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” John, 1. 51. 
This will be signally true, when the saints of the Most High, who 
are to take possession of the kingdom, and will be Christ’s own 
messengers, shall descend “ from the New Jerusalem to their camp 
contiguous to the terrestrial city, (Rev. 21.9,) before the heavenly 
city descends actually to the earth, (Rev. 21. 10, 24, 27,) when 
earth shall become a‘fit site for its abiding place.’”* 

t Romans, 8. 17. 


* Sirr’s Letters on the First Resurrection, p. 47. 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 353 


cometh will I give to sit with me in my throne, even 
as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father 
in his throne.”* ‘ And hast made us, unto our God, 
kings and priests; and we shall reign on the earth.”’} 

This is in exact accordance with the parable of the 
tares and the wheat, as interpreted by Christ. “ He 
answereth and saith unto- them, He that soweth the 
good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world ; 
the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but 
the tares are the children of the wicked one. The 
enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is 
the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. 
As, therefore, the tares are gathered and burned in the 
fire; so shall it be in the end of. this world.”’{  ‘“‘ The 
harvest is the end of the world,” or, as it is in the 
original, συντελεια ta αἰωνος, the end or close of the dis- 
pensation ; the very same phrase that is used in the 
very same period referred to in Matt. 24. 30, 31, and 
25. 31, 32, in answer to the disciples’ question, Matt. 
24. 3, when should’be “the end of the world,” αἰωνος, 
di natiouaon: ‘ The reapers are the angels. me there- 
fore, the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so 
shall it be in the end of the world. The Son of Man 
shall send forth his angels (or messengers), and they 
shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, 
and them which do iniquity, and shall cast them into 
a furnace of fire; there shall be weeping and gnashing 
of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth in the 
kingdom of their Father.’’§ 

The very same idea is distinctly held forth in the 
_parable of the net cast into the sea, and gathering of 
every kind, which, when it was full, they drew to the 


OO RROV. 3:2}. t Rev. 5. 10. 
t Matt. 13. 37-40. § Matt. 13. 41-43. 


354, ‘THE DAY -OF supenenr £ 


shore, and sat down and gathered the good into vessels, 
but cast the bad away. ‘So shall it be,” says Christ, 
‘in the end of the world,”’—at the close of the dispensa- 
tion: “the angels (his own messengers) shall come 
forth and sever the wicked from among the just.” 
“‘ Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a net that 
was cast into the sea, and-gathered of every kind ; 
which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat 
down and gathered ‘the good into vessels, but cast the — 
badaway. So shall it be at the end of the world; the 
angels shall come forth, and sever the winkige from 
among the just.”* 

Thus, both these parables refer to those that shall be 
alive on the earth at the time of Christ’s coming, and 
not to the dead; just.as-we have seen that'the nations 
gathered before Christ, are living*masses of men, in 
their various-civil organizations. 

The elect being gathered out from among the wicked, 
just as the wheat is separated from the tares in the 
harvest, or asthe good fishes are ‘separated from the 
bad in the net where all were mingled together, is 
plainly the idea which the Saviour has illustrated and 
enforced in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, by the 
shepherd’s separating the goats from the sheep. What- 
ever the one means, so must the other. But the elect 
cannot mean the dead saints; because, having them- 
selves been previously gathered, and coming with 
Christ to be clothed with their bodies, they become 
his messengers, to conduct the gathering process. 
The elect, therefore, must mean some portion of the 
human race that shall be found alive on the earth, 
mixed up with the wicked among the nations, at the 
time of Christ’s coming,—called at one time the elect, 


* Matt. 13. 47-49. 


~ 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL Cominc. 355 


at another time the wheat, at another, the good fish, 
and at another, the sheep. Who, then, are they, if 
they be not the righteous raised from the dead ἴ 

Perhaps it will be alleged, that they are all the 
saints alive on the earth, at the time of Christ’s coming, 
who are to be transformed and translated so that they 
shall not see death, according to what Paul has said. 
But this cannot be, for— 

First, the saints alive on the earth at ini coming of 
Christ are suddenly changed, and instantly and simul- 
taneously caught up with Christ into the air ;* where- 
as the gathering process is one which occupies some 
time, and is, in fact, according to the three parables 
of the net’ of fishes, of the wheat and tares, and of the 
sheep and goats, a process of judicial investigation and 
retribution. The rapture of the living saints is no 
more a judicial process than is the coming of myriads 
of the saints with Christ. 

Secondly, this gathering of the elect is evidently 
the process of taking possession of the:kingdom, and 
of establishing the dominion of Christ and of his saints 
over all the earth, which kingdom, as we have seen 
from Daniel and others, is the reign of Christ and his 
saints over all peoples, nations and languages, under 
the whole heavens—nations in the flesh. 

But here it will be asked, who then can the elect be, 
if not the dead saints called and chosen of God, or 
the living saints on the earth, at the time of his 
coming, elect according to the foreknowledge of God? 
In reply we remark, that we must be careful how we 
assume, that the word elect, as used by Christ, means 
exactly what theologians have used it to denote, ac- 
cording ‘to their schemes of systematic theology. 
We must confine ourselves to the meaning in which 
Christ used the term, if that can be ascertained. 


Ν * 1 Thess, 4. 17. 


1 
356 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT :, * 


At the time he illustrated the kingdom of Heaven 
to his disciples by the parables of the wheat and the 
tares, and of the net of fishes, he asked them if they 
understood these things, and they affirmed they did.* 
He therefore evidently spoke of, and referred them to, 
things of which they had other means of information 
than his parables. The idea of gathering, or of culling 
out and collecting, was a prominent one in these para- 
bles. Was there then, we ask, anything held forth as 
a prominent event taught by the prophets as destined 
to occur at the coming of Jesus Christ, which answers 
to this gathering of the elect, and separating between 
the sheep and the goats? In reply we remark, that 
the prophetic descriptions of the conversion‘and resto- 
ration of the dispersed of Israel answer exactly to 
this account of the Saviour. They are called THE 
ELECT oF Gop from the beginning, as the people whom 
God had chosen “to be a peculiar people unto him- 
self, above all the nations that are upon the earth.” 
“For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, 
the Lord thy .God hath cHosen thee to be a special 
people unto himself above all people that are upon the 
face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon 
you nor choose you because ye were more in number 
than any people ; for ye were the fewest of all peo- 
ple.”+ ‘For thou art a holy people unto the Lord 
thy God, and the Lord hath cnosrn thee to be a pecu- 
liar people unto himself above all the nations that are 
upon the.earth.”{ ‘And to make thee high above all 
nations which he hath made, in praise, and in name 
and in honor ; and that thou mayest be a holy people 
unto the Lord thy God as he hath spoken.” || “ For 
Jacob my servant’s sake and Israel mine ExEct, I have 
even called thee (Cyrus) by thy name.’’§ 


* Matt. 13.51. t Deut. 7. 6,7. t Deut, 14, 2. 
§ Deut. 23. 19. || Is. 45. 4. - 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 357 


They were called by Isaiah “the elect of God,” for 
whose redemption and deliverance the Lord raised up 
Cyrus; but they are particularly so called by this 
prophet, when he predicts that God would not destroy 
them all, but would bring forth a seed out of Jacob, 
and out of Judah an inheritor of his mountains; and 
his elect should inherit it, and his servants dwell 
there. ‘And [ will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, 
and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains; and 
mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell 
there.”’* 

His prediction refers expressly to the condition of 
the restored of Israel during the millenial kingdom and 
glory, when “as the days of a tree should be the days 
of his people, and his elect should long enjoy the work 
of their hands.” + 

The apostle Paul also predicts the conversion and 
restoration of the remnant of Israel at the time of the 
coming of Jesus Christ, and designates them as “ the 
elect of God.”{ ‘For I would not,” says he, “ breth- 
ren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, (lest 
ye should be wise in your own conceits), that blind- 
ness in part is happened to Israel until the fulness of 
the Gentiles §- be come in. And so all Israel shall 
be saved, as it is written, There shall come out of Zion 
the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from 


* Isa. 65. 9. . T Isa. 65. 22. t Rom. 11. 25-28. 

§Rom. 11. 25. ‘“‘The fulness of the Gentiles” does not denote 
the conversion of the world, but the completion of the times of 
the Gentiles. See Luke, 21. 24, ἄχρι πληρωθῶσι καιροὶ 2vav—till 
the times of the Gentiles, the nations, be fulfilled. This is a 
sufficient guide and warrant for supplying the ellipsis in Rom. 11. 
25, not as Mr. Bloomfield has done, assuming the πλήρωμα there 
to mean the fulness of the Gentile world, whereas Paul 
evidently refers to time—the time of Isracl’s blindness, which 
should last till the fulness of the Gentiles be come in—iypis οὗ 


31 


1. 
358 * THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: . 


Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them when I 
take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they 
are enemies for your sakes; but as touching the elec- 
tion, they-are beloved for the fathers’ sake.” It ap- 
pears, then, from these predictions, that the converted 
among the Jews are “THE ELECT” to whom the Saviour 
refers. That conversion, however, it appears from 
Zechariah, does not take place till after the coming of 
Christ, and consequently till after the resurrection of 
the bodies of the saints and the rapture of the living. 
And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon 
the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and 
supplication ; and they shall look upon me whom 
they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him as 
one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitter- 
ness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first- 
born.’”’* 

The prophets -who speak of this event, particularly 
Daniel,} describe it as occurring in the midst of most 
terrible calamities, such as never before befell that 
guilty people, which, although they commenced at the 
destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, and have been pro- 
longed ever since, reach their consummation, at the 
awful and terrible juncture, when the time of trouble 
and distress among the nations begins to be experi- 
enced in.its full power. The retributions.of God upon 
the anti-Christian nations; the destruction of Popery 
and of Rome, the seat of the beast, and of the great 
body of the Roman Empire, by the fiery vengeance of 
Heaven ; the deliverance of the remnant of the Jews, 
and their separation from the nations, together with 


(τοῦ χρονοῦ) τὸ πλήρωμα (Scil. τῶν καιρὼν) τῶν ἐθνῶν εἰσέλθη. The 
conversion of the Jews is to be the occasion of the conversion of 
the Gentile nations, and not the reverse. 

* Zech. 12. 10. t Dan. 12. 1. 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 3599 


the infliction of vengeance on the great mass of the 
wicked nations that opposed and persecuted the peo- 
ple of God, are among the events which introduce the 
dispensation, and form the first great epoch of the day 
of judgment. The preservation and gathering together 
of the remnant of converted Jews, in the midst of 
these frightful scenes, is, therefore, the gathering of 
the’ elect, of which the Saviour speaks. Mr. Faber 
himself is constrained to admit. that this is the event 
referred to, although he pronounces the coming of 
Christ, and the sending forth of his messengers, to be 
altogitbear spiritual or allegorical. This being so, we 
are now prepared to submit our last remark. 

6. That the parable of the dividing between the sheep 
and the goats, does not and cannot refer to the universal 
resurrection of the dead, and the last epoch of .the day of 
judgment. It does indeed refer to a procedure of 
judgment; but evidently to the introductory scene 
just noticed. For, there are several circumstances, 
which prove conclusively that it cannot be the uni- 
versal judgment of the race for the deeds which they 
have individually done in the body. 

(1.) The first we notice is, that so far from the dead 
saints being embraced in the judgment, and the wicked 
dead being raised, on the occasion referred to, there is 
not a word intimated in the parable about a resurrection 
from thedead. The idea ofa general resurrection of the 
dead is assumed and brought to interpret the parable. It 
is not certainly expressed ; and whatever resurrection is 
implied, it is that of the holy angels or messengers, 
which we have shown, are the myriads of the saints 
that come with Christ, and are sent forth to gather the 
elect, i. 6. the remnant of Israel, according to the elec- 
tion of grace. This gathering of the elect is the process 
of separating the sheep and the goats, —a very different 


bit, 
1 
360 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: , » 


thing from the resurrection of the promiscuous dead, 
the separation of the righteous and the wicked, and 
the punishment of the latter; and consequently, the 
separating of the sheep and the goats cannot be the 
final act of judgment described by John. 

. (2.) The second.circumstance we notice is, that the 
judgment and separation here referred to, is a judg- 
ment and separation of nations. ‘They are the nations, 
that are gathered before Christ, and are divided one 
from another.* For we have shown that the word 
‘‘nations” is never used to denote the promiscuous 
mass of the dead, assembled at the final resurrection. 

(3.) A third circumstance deserving of notice is, 
that the rule of judgment which shall be adopted at 
that time, is one which applies universally to the na- 
tions. But that rule of judgment is to be the treat- 
ment which was rendered to the sheep, whom Christ 
calls his brethren. Thisis a very different rule of judg- 
ment from that which will be adopted at the final re- 
surrection. Then, each individual is to be judged 
according to the deeds which he hath done in the body, 
1. 6. the heathen, who never heard of Christ, by the 
law of nature, and those enlightened by Christianity, 
according to the gospel. But the judgment here spoken 
of, is a judgment of zations, for their treatment of 
Christ’s brethren, allegorically spoken of as the sheep. 
The sheep, who are the brethren of Christ, we have 
seen are the remnant of Israel, according to the elec- 
tion of grace, whom he regards as his brethren, be- 
cause his kinsmen according to the flesh, as well as by 
virtue of their submission to God, in a filial spirit, by 
their conversion. These are not, indeed, exclusively 
the brethren of Christ, for he recognizes all to be such, 


* Matt. 25. 32, 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 361 


whether Jew or Gentile, who do truly possess like 
precious faith with Abraham; and the believing Gen- 
tiles, being included in the covenant which God made 
with him, the nations will be punished for their 
treatment of them, but they, at this time, are all gath- 
ered—the dead having come with Christ, and living 
Christians having been changed at his coming. The 
judgment on the nations then, itappears, is to be for their 
treatment of the Jews—Christ’s brethren according to 
the flesh ;and for their treatment of true Christians—his 
brethren according to the Spirit. Those nations which 
have persecuted the Jews who have been scattered all 
over the earth, and those which have persecuted the 
church of God, are the goats, which God will give to 
destruction. 

. This agrees exactly with the accounts given by Jere- 
miah, in his twenty-fifth chapter, at large, and in other 
ΕἾΒΡΟΙ and by Zechariah. ‘For Iam with thee, saith 
the Lord, to save thee, though I make a full end of all 
nations whither 1 have scattered thee, yet will I not 
make a full end of thee; but I will ‘correct thee in 
measure, and will not leave thee altogether un- 
punished.”* ‘Fear thou not, O Jacob, my servant, 
saith the Lord, for I am with thee; for I will make a 
full end of all the nations whither Ἷ have driven thee ; 
but I will not make a full end of thee, but correct thee 
in measure, yet I will not leave thee wholly unpun- 
ished.”> ‘And in that day will I make Jerusalem a 
burdensome stone for all people, all that burden them- 
selves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the 
people of the earth be gathered together against it.” 
He will make a full end of all nations, whither he 
has driven his people, the Jews, who have trodden 


* Jer. 30. 11. t Jer. 46. 28. t Zech: 12. 3. 
31 


362 THE DAY OF supMENt : . 


them down, but he will not of them. . They shall be 
gathered as the scattered sheep, as the flock of God, 
and made the centre of renovating influences among 
the remnant population of the nations that shall have 
been destroyed, with their kings, and armies and in- 
stitutions. Thus, the whole earth shall be brought 
under the dominion of the people of the saints of the 
Most High, and this elect people, rescued, gathered, 
and saved by the risen saints, shall be the honored and 
chosen nation through whom, in the re-establishment 
of the theocracy, the risen saints, along with Christ, 
shall reign over all the nations’yet remaining in the 
flesh. 

(4.) The last cireumstance we notice is, that the 
retributions and other procedures referred to in the 
two cases, do not correspond. In the judgment de- 
scribed by Matthew, the saints come with Christ ; 
receive the kingdom as their reward; and, as the 
heavenly rulers, take the empire out.of the grasp of 
the beast, and gather in the elect, at the time when 
the Son of Mar comes in his glory, and the glory of 
his Father, with his holy messengers. They enteron - 
their glorious work and reward, to live and reign with 
Christ. The sheep, as has been shown, are the rem- 
nant of the Jewish nation, according to election—con 
verted and restored—who, together’ with the whole 
body of the believing seed of Abraham, by whom they 
are collected and marshalled, receive, at the right 
hand of Jesus Christ, the ince of favor and honor, 
the reward of the bnedgm prepared from the founda- 
tion of the world. The raised and quickened saints 
become the kings and priests of God, the associate 
and subordinate rulers under Christ, ἘΦ ΡΣ whom 
the sway of Heaven is to be extended over the 
earth ; each one receiving according as he has been 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL cominG. 363 


faithful; being. commissioned to rule over five or 
ten cities, as the case may be. The restored Jewish 
nation, under the dynasty of Heaven, receive the chief 
imperial authority,* and while under the immediate 
dominion of Christ and his saints, extend their sway, ac- 
cording to all the blessed institutions of the theocracy, 
over the nations of the earth that shall arise after the 
scenes and shocks of that eventful day. The goats 
are the nations that persecuted the Jews and the peo- 
ple of God—the brethren of Christ. They are pun- 
ished, utterly and for ever,—destroyed with everlasting 
destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from 
the glory of his power. Fearful and terrible will be 
the fate of the wicked rulers and others, who have con- 
ducted, aided and abetted, or approved and counte- 
nanced the persecution of Christ’s brethren. The 
treatment of Christ, in his members, is the rule of 
procedure in this judgment. But in the judgment 
referred to by John, there is express mention made of 
very different scenes, and a very different rule of 
procedure. The heaven and earth shall flee away 
from before the face of him that shall sit on the great 
-white throne; the dead, small and great, shall stand 
before God, and each one shall be judged out of his 
book containing the things recorded against him,— 
judged according to Ais works. No mention is made 
of rewards,—nothing said about inheriting a kingdom, 
—nothing about nations. It seems to be the last 
stroke of divine vengeance inflicted on the congregated 
dead, which prepares the way, and ushers in the full 
and final triumph of Heaven, and the eternal state of 
glory. 

The parable of Christ, therefore, in the twenty-fifth 


* Micah, 4. 6-8. 


7 at 
364 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: . 


chapter of Matthew, is but a condensed view of what 
Ezekiel gives us, in his thirty-fourth chapter, where the 
prophet describes the judgment of God upon the Gen- 
tile nations, for having scattered his people abroad, 
which people embrace, according to the Abrahamic 
covenant, the natural descendants of Abraham, and 
the Gentile believers, or churches, which have like 
precious faith with Abraham. It is not necessary, 
here, minutely to trace the resemblance between 
Christ’s and Ezekiel’s account of this judgment. But 
the following facts may be stated:—The sheep are 
the people of Christ. ‘They comprehensively include 
the Jews first, and afterwards the church of God, who 
take their place. The retributions of Heaven will be 
awarded to the nations for their treatment of his peo- 
ple. Those that have persecuted the Jews and the 
church of God, will be regarded as having persecuted 
the Saviour himself, and shall partake in the de- 
struction and overthrow, by his avenging fire, which 
shall destroy Popery and the anti-Christian nations. 
Those that have nourished and cherished them, shall 
be admitted as constituent members and parts of 
that great kingdom which shall be established, “ in 
that day when, saith the Lord, I will assemble her 
that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, 
and her that-1 have afflicted. And I will make her 
that halted a remnant, and her that was cast off a 
strong nation, and Jehovah shall reign over them in 
Mount Zion, from henceforth even for ever. And thou, 
O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter 
of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first domi- 
nion; the kingdom shall come to the daughter of Jeru- 
salem.” * This is the kingdom that shall be awarded 


* Micah, 4. 6-8. 


\ 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 365 


to the sheep—the remnant of Israel, according to the 
election of grace, saved and gathered out of the na- 
tions,—and into which those tribes and nations of the 
earth shall be admitted as constituent parts, who shall 
be found not to have persecuted, but nourished and 
cherished the people of God; but from which, by 
their utter and everlasting overthrow, they shall be 
excluded, who shall be consumed “ by the spirit of his 
mouth, and the brightness of his coming,” along 
with the beast and the false prophet—the secular and 
spiritual Rome—for having persecuted the people 
of God, and shed the blood of the saints. Thus, 
then, it appears that the judgment οἵ Christ, set forth 
in the twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew, is the same 
with that.of Daniel and Paul, already examined; and 
different in every essential particular from the general 
floating notion, founded on it, of a universal, simulta- 
neous, and promiscuous resurrection of the righteous 
and the wicked, at some very remote day after one 
thousand years’ prosperity of the church of God: and 
essentially different, too, from that described by John. 

To sum up, then, what has been brought into view: 
The twenty-fifth chapter is in perfect consonance with 
the fact of Christ’s pre-millenial coming ; and interpret- 
ed, in connection with the twenty-fourth, and the pre- 
dictions of the prophets referring to the same events, 
the following are the grand and wonderful results we 
obtain. We speak with diffidence, and presume not 
to say that we may not have made some mistakes. The 
scenes are too wonderful, and complicated, and ex- 
tended, to harmonize fully before the events occur. 
We wait, with ardent expectation, for the wondrous 
scenes, and pray, that we may be accounted worthy to 
escape the desolations of that day, and to stand before 
the Son of Man, nor be ashamed at his coming. 


Ἷ ] 
366 THE DAY OF JUDGMENT: 


The general result of a pre-millenial coming of 
Christ to judgment, is enough to excite our intensest 
interest, even if we err in some of the minute details 
of that Wwoudértp! procedure. 

That this day of judgment is not strietly and exclu- 
sively a short season of judicial investigations or trial ; 
but itself a dispensation, running through éétitubtes, 
and embracing the whole millenial reign of Christ and 
his saints ;—that this dispensation is to be introduced 
by the visible, personal’ coming of Jesus Christ ;—that 
at his coming he’ will bring with him the myriads 
of his saints who: had died in faith, and who will then 
receive their bodies, raised from ‘ht dead in the like- 
ness of Christ’s glorious body ;—that the saints then 
living on the earth: will also be changed, and catizht' up 
together with Christ in the air ;—that this coming of 
Christ will occur most suddenly, and, as it were, by 
stealth, like a thief in the night ;—that the one half, at 
least, of professing Christians being profoundly asleep, 
and totally unprepared, will never awake to the sense 
of their duty tolook and watch for his coming, till the 
wonderful scenesof the coming of Christ, the first resur- 
rection; and the rapture of the living saints, shall over- _ 
whelm them’ with horror and dismay ;—that then the . 
church will be judged, and while honors will be awarded 
to the raised and rapt saints, according to their works, 
the unprofitable} formal professors shall be utterly and 
eternally rejected, and perish in the overthrow of the 
Man of sin and of his adherents, and in the destruction 
of the anti-Christian nations ;—that an end shall be made 
of all‘the’ nations that persecuted the Jews, and shed 
the blood of the’ saints ;—that in the midst of these 
scenes of destruction, as they shall be going on within 
the’ territorial limits of the four great empires that 
swayed the world, the raised saints will be sent to 


NO OBJECTION TO THE PRE-MILLENIAL COMING. 367 


collect the scattered Jews who shall have repented and 
believed, at that time, that Jesus is their Messiah ;—-that 
the conversion of the Jews will be the occasion of the 
conversion of whole nations among the Gentiles— 
the remote heathen nations and others, among whom 
the Jews were scattered, and the gospel was preached 
for a witness, and that neither persecuted the Jews nor 
shed the blood of the saints, but had not, nevertheless, 
been Christianized ;—that the Jews will be re-estab- | 
lished in their own land, the theocracy restored, 
Christ and his saints reign over them, and through 
them, over all the nations of the earth ;—that Satan 
‘will be cast into prison for one thousand years ;—that 
thus the dominion of Heaven shall be established on 
the earth, and the millenial bliss and glory succeed ;— 
and that the final judgment of Satan, and the promis- 
cuous throng of the wicked dead, who shall be raised 
at the end of the thousand years, shall prepare the way 
to usher in the glorious and eternal state when the 
kingdom shall be delivered up into the hands of the 
Father, and God shall be all in all. 


CHAPTER XIIL 
THE SEASON AND SIGNS OF CHRIST’S COMING. 


_“ Tury asked him saying, Master, but when shail 
these things be? And what sien shall there be, 
when these things shall come to pass.”* The 
question seems to have been suggested by the 
remarks, which the Saviour had made relative to the 
destruction of the temple and city of Jerusalem. It 
is obvious, from the terms in which Matthew proposes 
it,t that it had an ulterior reference. The disciples 
inquired, not only with regard to the fate of their 
city, but also with regard to the period of the Saviour’s 
second coming, and of the end of the dispensation. 
In this extended sense we understand the inquiry, and 
propose to collafe, from the prophetical Scriptures, 
some of the more important and striking signs of the 
coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. We 
shall thus. be furnished with an additional argument 
in proof.of that coming being pre-millenial. 

The theme is one of vast moment. The event 
itself involves our eternal interests, and the destiny 
of the world. If it be the fact that the once despised 
Nazarene, the persecuted Galilean, who was crucified 
between two thieves, but, having risen from the dead, 
ascended to heaven, and received all power and author- 
ity in heaven and on earth, is there waiting till the 


* Luke, 21. 7. ἐ Matt. 24. 3. 


THE SEASON AND SIGNS OF CHRIST’S COMING. 369 


appointed season of God’s forbearance shall have 
been ended before he returns to earth to execute al- 
mighty and everlasting vengeance on his enemies, it 
behoves us to be on the watch, and to inquire dili- 
gently whether there shall be any, and if so, what will 
be the signs of his coming. Inattention aud neglect 
here may prove fatal, as it has done, and will do yet, 
to multitudes. 

It is but a poor excuse, though often made and ex- 
tensively entertained, that the whole subject is involved 
im impenetrable mystery, and nothing definite or cer- 
tain can be determined in relation to it. Enough is 
revealed to make us watchful, and to enable us to see 
when it is near at hand, although we may not be able 
to tell the hour or the year. Both the season and the 
signs of Christ’s coming are accurately described. 

J. THE SEASON oF HIS comiNG.—lIt appears from the 
prophetical Scriptures that this is dated BEFORE THE 
Mittentum. The prediction of Daniel* with regard 
to the destruction of the fourth beast, or Roman 
empire, under the ascendant, despotic, and arrogant 
sway of the little horn, or the Man of sin, furnishes 
an irrefragable argument in proof of this. Let any man 
carefully read this prophecy, and compare it with the 
éleventh, nineteenth, and twentieth chapters of Reve- 
lations, and he will see that they all refer to the same - 
season and to the same scenes. The coming of Christ 
takes place at the destruction of the fourth, or Roman 
despotism, before the Millenium. The only way to 
evade the force of this argument is to make the com- 
ing not a literal but syinbotical coming. This, how- 
ever, cannot be done without assuming things which 
have not been and cannot be proved, and without violat- 


* Daniel, 7. 9-27. 
32 


1 
370 ’ THE SEASON AND SIGNS τ᾿ 


ing the fundamental principles of that only true and 
legitimate system of exegesis to be applied, to. the 
Sacred Scriptures. 

To the same effect is the prediction of the one 
Paul,* which determines the chronology of the 
Saviour’s coming, and declares it to be at the time 
of the destruction of the Man of sin, “ that lawless 
one,” whom Jesus Christ shall “ consume by the spirit 
of bite pensar and destroy by the abn hig of his 
coming.” 

In like manner, the predictions concerning the con- 
version and restoration of the Jews, which, it is ad- 
mitted, are to be fulfilled before the Millenium, are set 
forth as receiving their accomplishment in the same 
season, and by means of the coming of Jesus Christ. 
If the reader will compare Luke, 21. 24-27, with Matt. 
24. 29, 30, and Mark, 13. 24-27, he will find that they 
all relate to the same coming, and describe the same 
scenes. ‘Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the 
Gentiles (or nations),.until the times of the Gentiles 
be fulfilled,” t—at which period the Son of Man shall 
be seen coming in the clouds of heaven. But it. ap- 
pears from Romans, 11. 25, &c., that the conversion 
and restoration of the Jews do not take place “till 
the fulness of the Gentiles be come in,” i. e. the com- 
pletion of the times of the Gentiles.{ 


* 2 Thess. 2. 3-12. t Luke, 21. 24. 

t The period during which the nations, in the exercise of their 
political sovereignty, should oppose a barrier to the kingdom of 
God,—the time of the continuance of the great systems of politi- 
cal dominion which Daniel saw in vision, and described as the 
four empires successively to arise in the world, during which the 
kingdom of God would be delayed, and the saints be subjected to 
the control and tyranny of the man of the earth. The words are, 
ἄχρις ob τὸ πλήρωμα τῶν εθνῶν ἐϊσέλθῃ. Bloomfield says πλήρωμα is 
best explained as equivalent to ἀλῆθος τῶν εθνῶν (as opposed to 


- OF CHRIST’S COMING. 371 


~Weadd yet further, that the destruction of the nations, 
which occurs in the war of Armageddon, predicted by 
John,* is evidently the same with that in the valley of 
Jehoshaphat, predicted by Joel.t According to John,t 
the beast and false prophet, the secular and spiritual 
powers of the Roman Empire, are to be destroyed. 
And in Joel’s war in the valley of Jehoshaphat, Judah 
and Jerusalem are to be restored, and according to 
Zechariah,§ they are to be converted, as was Paul, 
by the coming of Christ. The restoration and con- 
version of the Jews, therefore, occurring at the des- 
truction of the anti-Christian nations, and both being 
pre-millenial, and cotemporaneous with the coming of 
Christ, the season of his coming must be dated before 
the Milleniam. 

The fact is, that all the other great events, which, it 
is admitted, must occur before, or at the sipoduérion 


the {rrfparc at v. 12) and signifying the great bulk of the hea- 
thens—in a manner, all. At εἰσέλθῃ must be supplied εἰς τὴν Baci- 
λείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, ΟΥ̓ εἰς τὴν πίστιν. The ἥττημα, or diminishing, referred 
to in the twelfth verse, however, is not that of the Gentiles, but of 
the Jews. The apostle there is not referring to time, but in the 
twenty-fifth verse he is. Hedoes not use the word πλήρωμα in re- 
ference to the Gentiles, or their universal accession to the cause of 
Christ, or entrance into his kingdom. The expression he applies 
to this is πλοῦτος é6vGv—the riches of the Gentiles—as opposed to. 
the diminution of the Jews. The πλήρωμα αὐτῶν----ς their fulness,” 
of the twelfth verse, is that of the Jews, and not of the Gentiles, as 
the context plainly shows. During the oppression, and diminish- 
ing, and scattering of the Jews, the Gentile nations are enriched 
by the gospel. If this great result has flowed, says Paul, from 
the diminution of the Jews, how much more enriched will the na- 
tions of the earth be by their fulness,—the completion of God’s 
designs of mercy towards them, in the full complement of their 
redeemed nation? If their depressed condition has enriched the 
world, how much more their prosperous condition ? 
* Rev. 16. 16. t Joel, 3. 2-12. 
} Rev. 19. 19, 20. § Zech. 12. 10-12. 


f 


1 
372 . _«- THE SEASON AND SIGNs*<’ 


of the Millenium, such as the harvest and vintage of 
God’s wrath,—the marriage supper of the Lamb,—the 
supper of the great God made for the fowls of heaven 
to eat the flesh of kings and captains, &c., and the 
like, are spoken of in prophecy as cotemporaneous 
with the coming of Jesus Christ; and the only pos- 
sible method of evading the force of the argument 
founded on them, in favor of his pre-millenial coming, 
is to assume and to maintain, that the coming, contem- 
plated:in all these cases, is. pra figurative. ‘This, 
we have shown, cannot be done consistently with cor- 
reet principles of interpretation. We cannot, there- 
fore, be at a loss with regard to the general season of 
Christ’s appearing. This season is designated by— 

I]. Various sIGNs, premonitory or symptomatic of 
its arrival.—These signs are of a twofold character— 
1. Those in general descriptive of the season by 
which it may be known when it arrives ; and, 2. Those 
which mark, by definite events, how near we may be 
to it. The distinction here stated may be illustrated 
by what occurs to the traveller. He has had a des- 
eription given him of a certain country, whither he 
is wending his way. ‘The country may be known 
from its climate and soil, the character of its inhabit- 
ants, and other general characteristic traits. With 
this general description he is satisfied, till he enters 
the country, and begins to inquire the way to the 
place in it which he seeks—the end of his journey. 
He wants then something more definite, and would 
feel greatly pleased to find himself on the public high- 
way, with its milestones regularly planted, appris- 
ing him, from stage to stage, how near or distant: it 
may be. 

It is thus with us, as time bears us forward to the 
great epoch of the Saviour’s coming. The season, or 


dence, in which the Saviour is to appear, is described 
very accurately ; and certain events which form, as it 
were, the milestones planted on the way, are predicted 
to occur, as we draw nearer and nearer to the day of 
his coming. It is true, they are not planted at regular 
intervals, nor do they come up precisely to the very 
date. They are rather like index boards, planted 
here and there, which cease to give us definite infor- 
mation, when we approach very near the event. 

This distinction between the season and time, is 
recognized in Scripture.* 

Tue season in which Christ will appear is described 
as— } ᾿ 

1. 4 season of great increase of knowledge. Daniel 
was told by the ange] to shut up the words, and seal 
the book to the time of the end, but at the same time, 
that many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be 
increased.{ This.most probably has reference to the 
obseurity which should hang around the page of pro- 
phecy, like that of a sealed or unopened book. It 
should not be removed till the time of the end—the 
season of its accomplishment, but that then many 
would investigate the truth, and knowledge be 
increased. ‘The word translated run to and fro,t 
is metaphorically used to denote investigation, close, 
diligent, accurate observation—just as the eyes of the 
Lord are said to runtoand fro. ‘The reference is not 
to Missionary exertions in particular, but to the study 
of the Scriptures, especially the sealed book of prophecy. 

The season during which the great and dreadful 


eo Thess, 0.2. >. 7 Dan. iz. 4. 

t PoNn-b22 DLW? in universa terra discurrentes. 2. Chron. 16. 
9. Metaph. percurrere librum, i. 6. perscrutari. Dan. 12. 4.— 
Gesentus. 


32* 


1 

374 _/ THE SEASON AND SIGNS, ᾿ 

day of the Lord shall come, will be a season of great 
light and religious knowledge, and far beyond any- 
thing ever known in the world before. Isaiah* says, 
“Jn that day shall the deaf hear the words of the, book, 
and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity 
and darkness.’ | 

This illumination or increase of Divine knowledge, 
it is predicted, shall occur after a period of great 
inattention and indifference to the sealed book of God 
—the prophetical Scriptures. ‘Stay yourselves and 
wonder, cry ye out and cry: they are drunken, but 
not with wine: they stagger, but not with strong 
drink. For the Lord hath poured out. upon you the 
spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the 
prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. 
_And the vision of all is become unto you as the words 
of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one 
that is learned, saying, Read this, 1 pray thee: and he 
saith, I cannot, for it is sealed.. And the book is de- 
livered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I 
pray thee: and he saith I am not learned.”}+ This is 
an apt description of the state of things which has 
existed, and toa great extent yet exists in the church 
and world, especially in reference to the subject of 
the prophecies. 

If Daniel’s prediction of increased knowledge ap- 
plies mainly, though not exclusively, as is most -pro- 
bable, to the investigation and knowledge of the more 
sure word of prophecy, it is at this day remarkably 
fulfilled. The learned theologians and teachers since 
the days of the Reformation—the men who have done 
much to rescue the Scriptures from obscurity, to 
throw light upon its pages, and through the study of 


* Isaiah, 29. 18. t Isaiah, 29. 9-12. 


OF CHRIST’S, COMING. 375 


the Bible to liberate the human mind from the igne- 
rance, darkness, and superstition, in which for ages it 
was held, have nevertheless, with few exceptions, neg- 
leeted the study of the prophecies, and not a few of 
them have assigned as a reason of the fact, that they 
are a sealed book; and while this was the case the 
unlearned, both of the clergy and the laity, have 
plead their want of learning as a sufficient excuse 
for their neglect of it. But within the last half cen- 
tury the attention of many has been turned in this direc- 
tion, and the discussions and publications which have 
followed, have thrown great light on the whole subject. 
The remark is true, not only in reference to the 
great revival of théological and biblical literature and 
studies; the greatly advanced knowledge of the ori- 
ginal languages, Hebrew, Chaldee, and Greek, in which 
the Scriptures are written, and of the cognate dialects ; 
of the general principles and value of philology, of the 
oriental manners and customs, and of the geography 
and history of ancient nations and places referred to 
in the word of God; but also to every branch of litera- 
ture and science. This is pre-eminently a day of in- 
vention and improvement. Bible Societies, Tract Soci- 
eties, Sabbath Schools, Theological and Missionary 
institutions, Temperance Societies, Lyceums, and in- 
numerable different moral, literary, scientific, and 
religious asscciations, have given a powerful impulse 
to the human mind. Never was there aday so marked 
with advancement in science, improvement in the arts, 
and the diffusion of general intelligence, by the pul- 
pit, the press, and the public lecturer, as the present. 
It is obvious, however, to the most ΠΕ ΤῊ observer, 
that the great mass of this knowledge is unsanctified. 
The improvements in the arts and sciences, and the 
general literature of the day, instead of promoting 


‘ 


1 
376 _ THE SEASON AND SIGNS 


general virtue and religion, are leading men away 


from God. A vast proportion of these things bears. 


the stamp of infidelity. Science has, in fact, been’ 
made subservient to crime, and proves that however . 


valuable is knowledge, and however infinitely impor- 
tant when sanctified and rightly directed, it furnishes 
no barrier in itself, against immorality and vice, and 


all the corruptions that sap the very life-blood of the. 


social state. 

2. A second great feature of the predicted season of 
Christ’s coming is that of great luxury growing out of 
increased wealth. James evidently had his eye on this 
when he said, “ Go to, now, ye rich men, weep and 
howl for the miseries that shall come upon you: your 
riches are corrupted and your garments are moth- 
eaten: your gold and silver is cankered, and the. 
rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall 


eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure - 


together for the last days.’* 


Seldom, if ever, has there been a period when there | 


has been manifested a greater ardor in the pursuit and 
accumulation of wealth, than in these last days. In 
former periods of the world, the kings and nobility 
possessed the wealth, and held the people as their 
vassals. But of late years the race has been thrown 
open toall. Individual exertion has not been deemed 
sufficient. Men have not been satisfied with personal 
industry, but corporate and other associations have 
been formed to increase the facilities for rapidly ac- 
cumulating wealth. Companies and combinations have 
been entered into for the purpose of heaping up trea- 
sures. Ménopolies have been attempted, and banking 
institutions been formed, which have afforded the 


* James, 5. 1-3. 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 377 


means of doing so. What immense amounts of insur- 
ance capital have been heaped together—how endless 
have been the joint-stock operations—how infatuated 
‘have men been with all kinds of stocks—how jealous 
and oppressive have different nations been in laying on 
their duties and imposts—how close and calculating, 
and extensive have been the large manufacturer’s plans 
for the multiplication of his fabrics, and the power of 
machinery, as far as possible, been substituted for ma- 
nual or personal labor and attention! How have the 
various productions of domestic industry, so health- 
ful and productive in any community—the system of 
labor, which made every farm-house and hamlet ἃ 
happy and virtuous manufactory of all necessary and 
essential fabrics—been broken down and supplanted, 
by the large and wholesale manufactories, where hu- 
man beings, not only in the manufacture of necessary 
articles from staple commodities, but in the multipli- 
cation of luxuries, are used as mere parts of a vast 
system of machinery, and the per diem allowance for 
the support of life, made a matter of close calculation ; 
and where by some sudden and unexpected change in 
the trade or in the legislation of the country, hundreds 
and thousands have been thrown out of employment, 
and been left without the means of subsistence and 
opportunities to obtain them! Monopolies have been 
the order of the day; and although the Lord, in his 
providence, has thrown perplexity and confusion 
‘among men, has brought a heavy pressure on the 
commercial world, and has deranged the working of 
their systems, yet the public mind has not been cured. 
To grind down the poor, and heap treasure: together 
for the last days, is as much the object with the 
great mass as it ever was. 
The spirit of luxury, too, which always rises and 


~ 


1 ; 
378° THE SEASON AND SIGNS τ᾿ 


falls with large and rapid accumulations of wealth, has 
seldom been greater than of late years. The affluent 
and pampered nobility of England, who luxuriate at 
the expense of the suffering, and in the midst of the 
slow and gradual siarvation of the squalid poor around 
them, are made extensively in these republican states 
the objects of envy, and the patterns of luxury. The 
extravagance and luxury of our large cities; a few 
years since, were but the index of what was going on 
inthe world at large; and although the derangement 
of our currency, the fluctuations of commerce, the 
depreciation of stocks, and the destruction of confi- 
dence and credit, have administered a severe but 
righteous punishment, yet is there no proof that the 
public mind is cured, and that the people have repent- 
edand begun to fear God. The great god of Eng- 
land, of France, of Turkey, of the United States, 
inideeld: throughout the civilized world, seems to be, 
political reform; but it is sought and wdovdd only to 
afford means for the more certain and rapid and suc- 
cessful prosecution of men’s covetous and avaricious 
designs to heap up treasures for the last days. 

3. Al third feature of the predicted season of Christ's 
coming, is a season of perplexity and trouble. The angel 
told Daniel that it should occur when “ there shall be 
a time of trouble, such as there never was since there 
was a nation, even to that same time.’* Luke also 
reports the Saviour to have declared, that, in that sea- 
son, “‘ Men’s hearts shall be failing them for fear, and 
for looking after those things which are coming on the 
earth.’+ It would seem that the season of Christ’s 
coming occurs before the actual development of those 
troubles. Confusion and perplexity of mind, uneasi- 
ness and anxiety, in view of the bearing of present on 


* Dan. 12. 1. t Luke, 21. 26. 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 379 


future events, while yet the world is generally in 
peace, is one of the most striking and distinctly 
marked features of that eventful season. ‘The fears 
and perplexity precede those troubles to some extent, 
but the great and terrible distress comes after it. 

4. This agrees with a fourth characteristic feature of 
the predicted season of Christ’s coming, viz. the world 
will be, to a very great extent, in a state of peace. ‘The 
Saviour has said, that as it was inthe days of Noah, 
so shall the coming of the Son of Man be. They were 
eating and drinking, marrying and. giving in marriage,* 
totally unaware of the approaching calamity. So 
also was it in Sodom and Gomorrah, and the: first 
thing that brought them to realize the truth of what 
had been foretold, was the torrents of judgment, that 
burst forth upon them from the hand of God. The 
world at this day appears to possess all these charac- 
teristics. Was there ever a time when in the midst 
of peace, and the most plentiful supply of the fruits of 
the earth, there was so much perplexity and trouble? 
We see men living in luxurious perplexity, in splendid 
misery—in opulent poverty. The paradox is fully 
realized, and the legislation of our own country and 
of others, has received indelibly the stamp and im- 
press of this feature of the times. 

Twelve years ago the prying statesmen and astute 
politicians of this world, descried that its peace was 
portentous. “It is impossible,” said a writer in the 
Edinburgh Review,{ ‘to look to the state of the old 
world without seeing, or rather feeling, that there is 
a greater and more momentous contest impending than 
ever before agitated human society. In Germany, in 
Spain, in France, in Italy, the principles of Reform 


* Mat. 24. 38. t May, 1830. 


| 1 

380 THE SEASON “AND SIGNS . ° 

and Liberty are visibly arraying themselves for a final 
struggle with the principles of established abuse, 
legitimacy, or tyranny, or whatever else it is called by 
its friends or enemies. Even in England, the more 
modified elements of the same principles, are stirring 
and heaving around, above, and beneath us, with unpre- 
‘eedented agitation and terror; and everything betokens 
an approaching crisis in the great European common- 
wealth, by the result of which the future character of 
its government, and the structure and condition of its 
society, will, in all probability, be determined.” The 
terror since expressed, is much greater among those 
statesmen to whom 


«“ς The aspiring heads of future things appear.” 


There are times, as it has been said, when man 
stands nearer than usual to the mysterious fountain of 
his destiny. Such a time is ours. 

5. The last characteristic feature of the predicted 
season of Christ’s coming which we notice, is great, deep, 
and profound slumber, in reference to it, on the part of 
the church of God, though not universal. The parable of 
the ten virgins refers directly to this subject. All are 
described tobe in deep sleep till the midnight ery was 
heard, and one half to have lost their oil, and to have 
been totally unprepared to meet the Lord at his coming 
—while the other half, quickly awake, and having their 
lights trimmed and burning, await, in momentary ex- 
pectation, his appearance. How deep and extensive, 
at present, is the lethargy of the Christian chureh on 
this subject. Our popular and most widely cireulat- 
ing periodicals ridicule the very idea. It is almost 
impossible to persuade them to publish anything ¢al- 
culated to excite attention. Multitudes of ministers 
cannot be induced to investigate or even read upon 


‘ OF CHRIST’S COMING. 381 


the subject. The few that do are accounted weak- 
minded and erratic,—and the cry of peace and safety 
extends far and wide,—no evil shall come upon us is 
the flattering unction which the multitude lay to their 
own souls. In very many pulpits, and by various de- 
nominations, the idea of future punishment is ridiculed 
or denounced. Skepticism in various forms insinu- 
ates itself even into the church of God. Peace, peace, 
is the cry. There is no avenging God whose wrath 
need. alarm you. Never were the doctrines of univer- 
sal salvation carried to such an extent, or so multi- 
plied and varied in their forms, as at the present day. 
Never did men boast more loudly of the advance of 
civilisation, and contend more pertinaciously that the 
regular action of established secondary causes is 
abundantly competent for the government of the world. 
God’s agency is excluded and lost sight of; and the 
ery is heard, with ribaldrous triumph, “since the 
fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were 
from the beginning of creation—where is the promise 
of His coming ?’’* 

While infidelity scoffs, a large portion of the Chris- 
tian world never dream of the personal coming of 
Jesus Christ; but are praying, and laboring, with 
confident expectation, for the speedy conversion of 
the world by means of the efforts and influences 
now. employed—so valuable and important in their 
place — for the multiplication of Missionaries and 
the spread of the Gospel; while this and the other 
zealot and bigot is hoping to see his church assume 
ascendant influence and lead the way to the Mille- 
nium. Verily, should the Saviour now return, the 
event would just as fully surprise the world as did 
the waters of the Deluge in the days of Noah. 


* 2 Peter, 3. 4. 


͵ 


99 


] 
382 THE SEASON AND SIGNS . 


We mean not to insinuate that Missionary efforts, 
and other labors of benevolence, should be relaxed. 
The groans of a world perishing in its corruptions 
call for quickened, multiplied effort, and for zeal ir- 
repressible and inextinguishable. The Gospel of the 
kingdom must be preached, in all the world, fora 
witness unto all nations: and then shall the end 
come !* It is our business to consecrate ourselves to 
the service of God wholly and devotedly, and to the 
utmost extent of our opportunities and abilities, en- 
deavor to spread that Gospel and hasten the day of 
his coming. As “God has visited the Gentiles to 
take out of them a people for his name,’’} and is seal- 
ing his people by the influence of his blessed Spirit, 
it is our privilege and honor to be his instruments, 
and to co-operate with our glorious Redeemer for the 
. salvation of souls and the glory of his name. Every 
sinner saved becomes an heir of the kingdom, and is 
destined to live and reign with Christ. Our motives 
to action are as powerful, as they are plain and intel- 
ligible ; while we deceive not ourselves or others by 
vain-glorious expectations, and stimulate to zeal and 
Christian enterprise by appeals to their imaginations, 
and by exciting hopes, however flattering, which God 
has not authorized. We should rejoice to think that 
there is no storm gathering round this world. But Zion 
is to be redeemed with judgment. Jesus Christ will 
break the nations with a rod of iron, and dash them in 
pieces likea potter’s vessel. Who will not be actively 
engaged to rescue as many as possible of our guilty 
race before the storm bursts? 

Besides the general description of the season, the 
prophets have given us a variety of signs designed to 
mark more particularly the time of Christ’scoming. The 

* Matt. 24, 14. - + Acts, 15. 14.” 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 383 


precise day and hour are not indeed defined, but a va- 
riety of events are detailed, which, occurring consecu- 
tively, enable us to judge, from time to time, of our 
approach to that great and wonderful event. In gene- 
ral the whole intervening period between the first and 
second coming of the Saviour is described with suffi- 
cient accuracy. Not one word was ever said by Christ 
or his apostles about a great and universal change inthe 
world, to be produced by the preaching of the Gospel, 
which would take away the shame and reproach of 
the cross, or render it easy and fashionable, and gene- 
rally characteristic of men, to be active, zealous, and 
consistent Christians. They have not dropped one 
word about such a state of things as the spiritualist 
expects in his Millenium. On the-contrary, the whole 
intervening period is described as one of trouble and 
commotion. The Saviour has distinctly forewarned 
us, that the world would never be long at peace—but 
wars and rumors of wars, from generation to genera- 
tion, and age to age, should prevail—that there should be 
continually false Christs and false prophets arising, and 
various predictions and explanations of Christ’s being 
and coming here and there—that opposition, tribula- 
tion, and persecution in some shape or degree would be 
the common lot of all his followers—that the govern- 
ments of earth, yea, and those of the church, the 
synagogues, would persecute and afflict his people— 
that revolutions and confusion would often and exten- 
sively prevail—and that the world shall never settle 
down in the enjoyment of true and permanent peace 
and felicity till he comes. He came not to send 
peace on earth but a sword. All these things, there- 
fore, as they have occurred from age to age, are 
standing signs of his coming. They are the great 
monuments which he causes to be raised in this fallen 


é 1 
384 THE SEASON AND SIGNS . 


world, on which are engraven, and men ne the 
Remwaiige of his coming. 


“III. But there are other and more particular 516 Ν5 OF. 
HIS COMING. 


1. It was predicted that an extensive and powerful 
apostasy should take place. That day shall not come 
except there come a falling away first, and that man 
of sin be revealed the son of perdition.* The Spirit 
speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall 
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits 
and doctrines of devils.| In both places the apostle 
draws the image of Popery, and describes it so exactly 
that there can be no doubt in any candid mind that he 
regarded it as the apostasy. Peter{ declares that it 
is in the church it is to be looked for, and that it 
would be brought about by the influence of false 
teachers, denying the Lord that bought them; actu- 
ated by covetous and avaricious designs, and prevail- 
ing by hypocritical and imposing pretences to make 
merchandise of the saints. Jude’s description is to 
the same effect. ΑἹ] the attributes of the great apos- 
tasy predicted to occur before the coming of Christ, 
are to be found in the Papacy—such as demonolatry, 
or the worship of dead men and women, the prohibi- 
tion of marriage, a superstitious abstinence from 
meats, commerce in the souls of men, or making mer- 
chandise of them, as is done by the sale of indul- 
gences and the purchase of masses for the dead. 

2. Another sign given to the church was, that this 
apostasy should not occur till the Roman Empire or 
fourth beast, whose appropriate territory ἐς in the south 
and west of Europe and north of Africa, should be 


* 2 Thess. 2. 3, t 1 Tim, 4, 1. 1 2 Pet. 2. 1, 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 385 


divided into ten kingdoms. 'This is what both Daniel 
and John meant by the ten horns on the-head of the 
beast, as has already been shown. This event took 
place by the invasion of the northern barbarians du- 
ring the fifth and sixth centuries, and in the establish- 
ment of the ten kingdoms:—1. of the Visigoths in Gaul 
and Spain. 2. The Suevi in Spain. 3. The Heruli in 
Italy. 4. The Francs in Belgium. 5. The Burgun- 
dians in Burgundy. 6. The Saxonsin Britain. 7. The 
Alans in Gaul and Spain. 8. The Qstrogoths in 
Pannonia. 9. The Lombards in Pannonia. 10. The 
Vandals in Africa. 

3. A third sign was to be the rise of a diminutive 
power, which should subvert three of these kingdoms, 
introduce radical changes in times and laws, and be the 
very apostasy embodied and personified. This power, 
whom we have identified with the Pope of Rome, it 
was predicted should make war with the saints of the 
Most High, and prevail against them until the Ancient 
of Days should come ; judgment should be given to 
the saints of the Most High, and the time come when 
they should possess the kingdom. ‘This sign points 
us near to the great and signal day. For— - 

4. The time of the continuance of this lawless and per- 
secuting power is predicted. Several prophecies bring 
this into view and all limit that time to 1,260 years. 
If, then, we can ascertain the date of its rise, we may 
be able to determine pretty nearly that of its destruc- 
tion, which event is to be secured by the coming of 
Christ. Two sources of difficulty, however, occur— 
one is the fact that there are various marked epochs 
or dates in the rise of the papal power, as 533, 538, 
606, and 756. Which is the one meant in prophety 
we shall, probably, never know till the event occurs, 
so that darkness hangs around the close of this pe- 

33* 


1 
386 THE SEASON AND SIGNS 


riod of 1,260 years. Another source of difficulty is, 
the doubt whether the years are to be computed as 
so many years of 360 or of 365. days,—if the former, 
making a difference of some seventeen years and three 
months. Still, having the time of the continuance of 
this great persecuting and apostate power, we can 
come so near the wonderful crisis, as to be awake and 
eagerly expecting the great and glorious things pre- 
dicted relative to the coming of Christ. 

5. This chronological sign is further set forth by 
various separate and independent periods, the duration of 
which is given, and all converging to one. point in the 
last and terrible consummation of God’s wrath upon his 
enemies. ‘Thus, the whole period of his church’s 
trials and tribulation, and of the times of the Gentile 
domination, is said to be seven times,* or according to 
prophetical calculation seven. years of years, that is, 
2,520 years, of which 1,260 isthe one half. Also the 
time of Daniel’s vision, said to be 2,300 years,} and 
the periods of 1,290 and 1,335,{ one thirty, and the 
other seventy-five years beyond the close of the 1,260 
years of papal domination, and forming great epochs 
in the development of God’s plan. We enter not 
into the discussions on the subject of chronological 
prophecy, that being foreign from the design of these 
dissertations. Hereafter the subject may receive at- 
tention, and the views and reasonings. of those be 
examined, who affirm the prophetical numbers to be 
indeterminate. Yet it may be proper to remark, that 
the church, in. seasons of affliction and oppression, 
has generally had some chronological prediction, di- 
recting her hope forward to events which should have 


* Lev. 26. 14-39; especially verses 18, 21, 24, 28. 
t Daniel, 8. 14. t Daniel, 12. 11, 12. 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. - 387). 


a bearing on her interests and prosperity ; and even 
the world, too, have had great dates assigned for future 
signal and punitive events. 

When Noah began to preach to the antediluvian 
world, and to forewarn them of the coming flood, 
one hundred and twenty years* was stated to be the 
term of God’s forbearance till its occurrence. When 
Israel were oppressed in Egypt, they had the predic- 
tion, made to Abraham, of the four hundred yearst 
of their affliction, which dated at the mocking of 
Isaac by Ishmael, and terminated in their deliverance. 
Isaiah predicted the period when the kingdom of 
Israel{ should be overthrown ; Jeremiah the seventy 
years of Judah’s captivity ;§ and Daniel the period 
of seventy weeks, or four hundred and ninety years, 
when the Messiah would have appeared.|| We are 
not therefore to be told that there is no such thing as 
chronological prophecy. 

It pleased God, however, in every instance to leave 
the precise date for the commencement of the period 
somewhat obscure ; but the events fulfilling the pre- 
diction demonstrated, not only when that date oc- 
curred, but the precision with which the prophecy had 
been accomplished. Daniel was not a poetical pro- 
phet, but a plain, matter-of-fact man ; or, as we would 
say, in our modern parlance, a business man, ac- 
quainted with the nature and importance of statistical 
matters. Events have proved that one of his chrono- 
logical predictions was not indeterminate. It is there- 
fore assuming too much to affirm, that his other pe- 
riods are of a different character, and John’s also, who 
takes his principal chronological prophecy from him. 


* Gen. 6. 3. t Gen. 15. 13. - 
t Isaiah, 7. 1-9. § Jer. 25. 12; 29. 10. 
|| Daniel, 9. 1, 4, 20-27. . 


ἢ 
388. THE SEASON AND SIGNS . 


Our object is not to adjust dates, but merely to 
show that we have certain chronological signs or 
series of dates, by which to compute the period of 
Christ’s coming. It is true, that the period of their — 
commencement cannot positively be determined, inas- 
much as there are several series of events, occurring 
at different periods, from any one of which they may 
be severally commenced, and calculating forward, we 
shall be pointed to as many different dates for their 
termination. Thus the period: of 2,520, for the chas-. 
tening of the Jews, may be dated from 731 B. C., 
when Shalmanezer invaded the ten tribes, and made 
Samaria tributary to him; or 727 B. C., when he car- 
ried Israel captive ; or 724 B. C., when he laid siege 
to Samaria; or 722 B. C., when he took it the second 
time ; or 714 5. C., when Sennacherib invaded Judea ; 
or 708 B. C., when his army was destroyed; or 677 
B. C., when Esarhaddon extinguished the kingdom of 
Israel. Counting 2,520 years, the period of Israel’s 
trial, from each of these dates, we are brought to 
important dates in the world’s history from 1780 to 
1843-4, in all of which, as far as they have transpired, 
some remarkable movements have taken place in God’s 
providence, evidently preparing the way for a great 
and final catastrophe in the affairs of the nations.* 
In like manner, the period of 2,300 years in the vision 
of Daniel, may be dated from the edict of Cyrus, 536 
B. C.; or of Darius Hystaspes, 518 B. C.; or of the 
seventh year of Artaxerxes, 457 or 456 B. C.; or of 
the twentieth of the same monarch, 444, or 434, or 
432 B. C., not to mention others, which will bring us 
to A. D. 1764, 1782, 1843, 1856, 1866, 1868. 

Mr. Miller has assumed the third date, and confi- 


* See Habershon’s Dissertations on the Prophetic Scriptures. 


| 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 389 


dently preaches that the coming of Christ will be in 
1843. He has not proved -his assumption to be cor- 
rect ; but, on the contrary, neglecting the harmony of 
prophecy, and spiritualizing al] that is said about the 
conversion and restoration of the Jews, the war of 
Gog and Magog, the battle of Armageddon, and other 
important predictions, he relieves himself from much 
trouble and embarrassment as an interpreter of pro- 
phecy, and, as we think, with unauthorized confidence 
announces the year and day of Christ’s appearance. 

God, we think, has purposely left these dates in 
doubt, so that we may not be able to know precisely 
the day of Christ’s coming. We regret, therefore, 
that so much confidence and boldness of assertion, 
not sustained by sufficient proof, should have been 
indulged in on this subject. We believe it is impos- 
sible, for the reasons already stated, and others which 
might be added, to demonstrate the precise day and 
hour. Nevertheless, we can descry with sufficient 
distinctness the general period or season during which 
the grand event will take place, so that we cannot be 
more remote from it, at the furthest assignable date, 
than one hundred and seventy-five years. We may 
be, and most probably are, much nearer, and although 
we cannot but condemn the confidence with which it 
is asserted that next year will be the period, as do 
Mr. Miller and many others, yet we believe that some- 
where from 1843 to 1847, will be marked by very clear 
and decided movements in God’s providence, tending 
to shape the character of approaching political com- 
motions, and to affect the interests of the Jewish 
nation, and of the church and the world, which shall 
render it a marked epoch, and prove that we are ad- 
vanced one stage nearer to the time of the end. 

6. Another sign anterior to the coming of Christ is 


1 
390 THE SEASON AND SIGNS , 


the wasting of the Ottoman Empire. This is the sym- 
bolical drying up of the river Euphrates, spoken of by 
John as occurring under the pouring out of the sixth 
vial, during which the note of warning is sounded by 
the Saviour, “ Behold, [ come asa thief in the night.”* 
None can be ignorant of the rapid progress of disso- 
lution which is now going on in the Turkish empire. 
That sagacious traveller, Mr. Elliot, several years ago 
remarked, ‘‘'The empire is hurried to destruction by 
the pressure from without. Cireumstances have 
forced her into painful contact with the insatiable 
ambition of the czars, the timid cautiousness of Eng- 
land, the vacillating system of France, and the cold 
calculating policy of Austria. All these have exer- 
cised, and still exercise, a baneful influence on the 
Divan, which is driven to and fro by fears and mena- 
ces, distracted by contentions, and harassed by in- 
trigues. Torn by so many conflicting interests, Tur- 
key would long since have fallen into the hands of one 
or other of the European powers, had not their recip- 
rocal jealousies rendered it impossible for any one to 
take possession of her without encountering the can- 
nons of its rivals. The present is an interval of strife 
with expectation, in which all are watching each, and 
one is baffling 81. ὁ 

We may add that the present peace of Europe is 
preserved by the very antagonism of the interests of 
the allied powers. The partition of Turkey would 
be the signal of general war. While the united effort 
of the despotic sovereigns is to uphold it in its mteg- 
rity, the prague is depopulating its principal cities ; 


* Rev. 16. 15. 

Tt See also. the communication of Rev. Mr.. Goodell, Missionary 
of A. B. C.F, M., at Constantinople, in Missionary Herald for 
April, 1841. 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 391 


earthquakes-and fires and other calamities are- hasten- 
ing its ruin ; province after province has fallen away, 
and insurrections are continually occurring. By the 
treaty of Unkiar Skelessi the crescent was struck 
from the Moslem’s brow, and the Russian bear became 
the protector of Turkey. Greece has declared her- 
‘self dependent. Moldavia and Wallachia have re- 
volted, and been permanently occupied by Russia. 
The French have wrested away Algiers, and are at- 
tempting to found an empire on the northern coast of 
Africa. Albania and Bosnia are torn by internal dis- 
eords and dissensions. Ibrahim Pacha’s victorious 
march nearly to the gates of Constantinople, proved 
the weakness of the empire. Egypt has been recog- 
nized as an independent sovereignty. Syria is wasted 
by insurrectionary wars, and must soon too be erected 
into an independent nation. Servia, too, is wasted by 
insurrectionary movements. Everything bears the 
stamp of wasting and decay. The die is cast. The 
Ottoman is reduced to the rank of a puppet among 
the sovereigns of Europe, and Turkey now survives 
only through their forbearance and mutual jealousies. 

7. A further sign of Christ’s- coming is the resusci- 
tation of the ancient oriental kingdoms. These we under- 
stand to be “the kings of the East,”* for whose ap- 
pearance the way is prepared by the drying up of the 
waters of the mystic Euphrates. The king of the 
north and the king of the south, spoken of by Daniel,+ 
which are the powers that respectively make Syria 
and Egypt their dominion, are to be revived, and to act 
their part in the last scenes of the great tragedy. Al- 
ready have Persia, Greece, and Egypt taken a conspi- 
cuous place among the nations of the earth. Syria 


* Rev. 16. 12. t Daniel, 11. 40-45. 


1 
392 THE SEASON AND SIGNS | 


and Palestine yet lie waste, but indications are very 
clear and decisive that on the ruins of the Turkish 
Empire, or in its future decline, they too are destined 
to revive, and the questions of establishing a new 
political sovereignty in Syria, and of the return and 
re-establishment of the Jews in their own land, have 
already engaged the attention of the cabinets of 
Europe. 

8. A further sign to precede the coming of Christ, 4s 
the rise of some great military power, emphatically the 


Antichrist, whose temporary triumph shall be marked. 


with violent persecution, and by the slaughter of the two 
witnesses. We cannot see that either of these events 
has as yet occurred. 

Various opinions have been entertained on theese 
subjects, some believing the Pope to be Antichrist,— 
some the secular Roman Empire under its last head— 
somea politico-ecclesiastical power to be brought into 
existence through the influence of the Pope, and to re- 
ceive the temporary support of the ten kings or anti- 
Christian nations of Europe, who will make Syria and 
Palestine the centre of his dominion, and probably Je- 
rusalem his capital; and there, for a season, terribly 
persecute the people of God, symbolized by the two 
witnesses, or, in other words, suppress the profession 
of Christianity. 

Mr. Faber* supposes the two witnesses to have been 
the two churches of the Vallenses and the Albigenses, 
—which he thinks alone answer to the description, — 
their death to have been the dissolution in their cor- 
porate capacity, by the edict of the Duke of Savoy at 
the instigation of the French king—which edict bore 
date the 31st of January, 1686,—and their resurrec- 


* See Faber’s Sac. Cal., v. 3. pp. 8-106. 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 393 


tion to have been the successful invasions of Savoy, 
by the exiles, who, on the 16th day of August, 1689, 
crossed the lake of Geneva, and by April of 1690, 
had firmly established themselves in their ancient 
seats. 

Mr. Cuninghame* thinks that the two witnesses are 
the true spiritual church—that their death was accom- 
plished in the promulgation in 1548 of the new sys- 
tem of doctrine prepared by the command of the 
Emperor Charles V., afterwards styled the Inte- 
rim, which secured the suppression of the Protestant 
doctrine and worship, and the persecution of Protes- 
tant ministers, throughout the states of Germany,— 
and that their resurrection was the successful com- 
mencement, about three years and a half afterward, 
towards the end of 1551, by Maurice of Saxony, of 
those operations, which reinstated the magistrates, 
whom the Emperor had deposed, and gave possession 
of the churches to the Protestant ministers he had 
ejected. 

Mr. Frere supposes the two witnesses to be the Old 
and New Testaments, their death the suppression 
and contempt of the Scriptures in infidel France, and 
their resurrection the cessation of the reign of terror, 
the rise of a Missionary spirit and the spread of the 
Gospel. 

This also is substantially the opinion of Mr. Miller, 
which, however, fails to commend itself to us, because 
it corresponds not so accurately and fully with the 
prediction, or the description, as we have a right to 
expect the events will when fulfilled. 

It is not designed, in these dissertations, to enter 
into any expository examinations of the different 


* Cuninghame on the Apocalypse, pp. 141-147. 
34 


ὡ : 1 
394 THE SEASON AND SIGNS. ° 


branches of the prophecies. It is to the leading 
theme, the key note of prophecy we direct attention. 
The detailed statements or filling up of the outline, 
should the present volume find favor with the Chris- 
tian public, may, if the Lord permit, be given here- 
after. Our object at present, in the remarks we make 
upon the several signs of Christ’s coming, is simply to 
group together the more important and striking, and 
to show their bearing towards that great event: but, 
as we differ from most commentators on the sub‘ect 
of the witnesses, we think it proper to exhibit their. 
views. 

Daubuz* supposes, that the two witnesses are the 
Christians, or rather the public asserters of the true 
religion, whose dead bodies, during three years and a 
half, that is, during the whole period of 1,260 years, 
should “ lie in the great place of the city,”—that is, 
that the worship of God shall be banished from the 
capitol of corrupted CurisrENDom, as well as from its 
whole jurisdiction, and by these more particularly 
scorned and profaned.”’ 

Medet is of the same opinion, differing, however, 
from Daubuz in his understanding of the words 
ὅταν τελεσωσι, translated, according to our version, 
“ when they shall have finidhed their testimony,”—the 
former rendering them, ‘‘ when they are about to finish 
their testimony,” looking forward to a future and final 
persecution at the close of the 1,260 years ;—the lat- 

ter, “whilst they shall perform their testimony,” 
referring to the whole period. Others{ suppose the 
witnesses to be the Jewish and Christian church ; 


* See his Perpetual Comment on Rev., pp. 502-520, &c. 

t Mede’s Clavis Apocalyptica, ad loc. ς 

t See Cooper’s Translation of Mede’s Clavis Apocalyptica, ad 
joc. 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 395 


especially the law of the one, and the Gospel of. the 
other—substantially the same with that of Mr. Frere, 
&e. 

Professor Stuart* will have us understand the two 
witnesses, to be the Christians in Jerusalem, during its 
siege; and the period of their lying dead in the streets 
of Jerusalem, the period of invasion and conflict prior 
to the capture and destruction of the city by Titus ;— 
assuming certain positions which have not been proved, 
as his guide to the meaning of the whole book. of 
Revelations ; and asserting things to be so very ob- 
vious as not well to be denied,—which, however, we 
respectfully remark, he cannot but have learned from 
his researches, have actually been denied ;—which have 
also been supported with much appearance of argu- 
ment, at least among English commentators, what- 
ever may be the fact among the Germans,—and which, 
it does not appear that. any one ever dreamed, at the 
time of their occurrence, or for centuries afterward, 
—a thing reserved for modern hermeneutical disco- 
veries,—were the fulfilment of the prediction—a cir- 
cumstance, by the way, rather in opposition to He 
great plainness of its import. 

Amid the multitude of different opinions,—a fact 
affording in itself a strong presumption, that the 
prediction has not yet been fulfilled,—we find our- 
selves totally at aloss; and therefore believe, that the 
events referred to, have not yet transpired. With re- 
gard to prophecy andulfilled: we would speak modestly. 
What shall be the last form of Antichrist,—when the 
death of the witnesses shall occur,—or how soon the 
providence of God may throw ene light on these 
subjects, we will not now venture to say: nor, whether 


* See Stuart’s Hints on the Inter. of the Prophecies, ad loc. 


: 1 
396 THE SEASON AND SIGNS. ° 


there may not yet be some embodyment of all that is 
corrupt in Popery, Islamism and Judaism, &e.—to be 
developed in some new anti-Christian opposition to 
the cause of Christ, to be made in the resuscitated 
“nations of Syria and Palestine, among the Jews. Cer- 
tain it is, that the eye of Napoleon was turned to that 
part of the world, and that he entertained the design, 
which it is said Louis XIV. had projected, to estab- 
lish there an independent and maritime power, whose 
alliance might be useful to France in her movements 
in the Mediterranean, and in, her jealousy of British 
commerce. France thirsts for glory, and whether 
this project may not soon be realized, by some 
schemes of military enterprise, which she may excogi- 
tate, affecting Syria, Palestine and Egypt: or whether 
Russia shall take possession of Constantinople, and 
the Greek church ultimately be involved in the great 
scenes and movements, to be acted in that part of the 
world, we will not now hazard a conjecture. 

Prophecy teaches us, that Egypt, Palestine and 
Syria, “embracing the ancient Assyria, are to become 
intimately united in interest, and it seems to intimate,, 
that they will be the theatre where the last form of 
Antichrist will develope his blasphemies, idolatry, and 
persecutions ; and the cause and glory of Jesus Christ, 
and the kingdom of Heaven, have their most illus- 
trious honors.* 

Mr. Fraser,t a very close student of prophecy, who 
does not believe in the personal pre-millenial coming 
of Christ, nevertheless finds himself constrained to 
think, that the papal power will be transferred from 
Rome, be erected in Judea—consequent on the confla- 


*Tsa. 19. 23-25. 
t Fraser’s Key to the Prophecies, p.-236, &c. 


~ 


: OF CHRIST’S COMING. — ᾿ς 39% 
gration of Rome—extend its influence inthe benighted 
regions of Asia, and flourish on the ruins of Islamism. 

We venture not to indulge in conjectures. Our ob- 
ject is simply to show, that there are, both from pro- 
phecy, and from present providential indications, 
reasons to believe, that the rise of the last form of 
Antichrist, and the slaughter of the two witnesses, are 
events to which we are approaching, and which ere 
long will announce to the student of the Bible, that he 
has. passed another stage nearer to the great eventful 
day. 

9. The general preaching of the Gospel throughout the 
world is announced, by the Saviour himself, to be an 
event which shall give notice of the end of this present 
dispensation. “AND THIS GosPEL OF THE KINGDOM 
SHALL BE PREACHED IN ALL THE WORLD, FOR A WITNESS 
ΤΟ ALL NATIONS, AND THEN SHALL THE END CoME.”* The 
end of which he speaks, is ¢he end of the dispensation, 
the συντελεία τοῦ αἰῶνος, about which the disciples had 
inquired.t| ‘This remark of the Saviour is made, at 
the close of his general cautions and observations, 
intended to apply to the whole period prior to his 
second coming. ‘The world, of which he speaks, is 
the habitable world, οἰκουμένη, which some commenta- 
tors, as Rosenmueller and others, suppose to be the 
Roman world or empire—a sense in which the word 
is sometimes used: but Mr. Bloomfield, following 
Whitby and Doddridge, very justly extends its signi- 
fication, yet inconsistently enough understands it to 
mean, “by a slight hyperbole, the greater part of the 
then known world.”{ Such an explanation would not 
have been admitted, or even imagined, but for the as- 


* Matt. 24. 14. t Matt. 24. 3. 
Ὁ See his Gr. Test. ad loc. 
945 


| l 
398 THE SEASON AND SIGNS. 


sumption, that Christ meant the end of the sowie 
nation and destruction of Jerusalem. οὖ. 

Whether, by preaching the Gospel of the Lingdim 
be meant, the general preaching of evangelical truth, 
or the more specific idea of the good news of the 
kingdom of Heaven approaching, we shall not here 
attempt to decide, although some incline to the latter 
opinion. The statement of the Saviour is, that his 
Gospel of the kingdom, whatever that may mean, 
shall be preached throughout the habitable world. 
This does not imply that the world will be converted, 
any more, than that the preaching of the Gospel in 
any place, does, that all its inhabitants will be con- 
verted. It is for a witness or testimony to all nations 
that it is to be preached; which implies, that it would 
not be universally received. God is loath to destroy 
men. He forbears for a long time with guilty nations. 
He offers by his Gospel the grace, protection and do- 
minion of Heaven ; not only for the salvation of indi- 
viduals, but for the security, happiness, and perpetuity 
of nations. Once he offered to the Jewish nation, and 
established among them the benefits of his theoera- 
cy ;—proposed to make them his people, to establish 
his kingdom among them, and to reign over them in 
glory and prosperity. But they rejected him. They 
despised the benefits of the theoeracy ;—they askeda 
king ;—and they violated the laws of Jehovah, that 
dwelt between the cherubims, Israel’s God. When 
he came afterwards, in person, as Jesus of Nazareth, 
their promised Messiah, “ to his own,” and offered to 
bless them, and to redeem his promises, they crucified 
him! He had brought the kingdom nigh unto them. 
For he stood among them within, or in their midst, 
evtos μιν, as their promised Lord and King. But 
they disowned him, and imprecated the vengeance 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 399 


of his blood to be upon them. He took the kingdom 
from them ;—and gave it in its offer, to a nation or 
people bringing forth the fruits thereof ;~and broke 
up their nation and scattered them to the four winds 
of Heaven. 

The good news of his kingdom, however, were not 
to be announced to any, till Israel had fully and finally 
settled the question, whether they would receive him. 
This done, and being rejected by them, he sent it to 
the Gentiles. God from that day began to visit the 
Gentiles “to take out of them a people for his name.””* 
He has been ever since affording to them an opportu- 
nity to obtain the benefits of his sway, and to inherit 
the kingdom of heaven. Individuals embrace his 
offer; and God is making up his elect church, out of 
every nation, kindred, tribe, and tongue and people, 
who shall live and reign with Christ. Not a nation 
-as such receives him, and hails his dominion. The 
political governments of earth are corrupt; and the 
authority of Jesus Christ is set at naught. He is 
giving them ample time, as he did the Jews, to say 
whether he should reign over them. In the mean 
time he will have the Gospel preached for a witness 
through the whole world. Every nation shall have 
an opportunity to say whether they will come under 
the sway of Heaven. When that Gospel shall have 
accomplished its circuit round the globe, the time of 
forbearance will cease. 

For near two thousand years, God forbore with the 
Jews; and gave them the offer of his kmgdom. For 
hear two thousand years, he has done the same with 
the Gentile nations. And now, that Gospel has nearly 
delivered its testimony throughout the globe. It has 


* Acts, 15. 14. - 


400 THE SEASON AND- diens 


found its way among the rude tribes of Laplanders 
and Esquimaux ; and penetrated through the northern 
snows almost to the very pole. It has travelled 
through the valleys, and over the mountains, and on 
the table land, and the wide plains of central and eastern 
Asia. Through the whole extent of our continent 
also, stretching almost from the northern to the south- 
ern pole, it has sounded its gladdening notes. There 
is scarce a nation of Europe, Asia, or America, in 
which it has not been preached. It has visited the 
numerous isles of the sea. It has sailed round the 
continent of Africa, and established its Missions from 


the Cape of Good Hope along both its eastern and west-. 
ern coasts. Long since did it find its way into Egypt, 


and Nubia and Abyssinia. And last of all, but not the 
least wonderful, it has restored to their native land 
some Mendi captives thrown on our shores, and pre- 
sents the marvellous and interesting prospect that ere 
long, even the unexplored. regions of Central Africa, 
shall hear the glad tidings of salvation. Verily, we 
have in these things a spirit-stirring and portentous 
sign of the coming of the great day of God, when, if 
the nations will not embrace his Gospel, and submit 
to his sway, He shall break them with a rod of iron, 
and dash them in pieces, as a potter’s vessel. 

10. 4 further sign we notice of the coming of Christ, 
is the spread and prevalence of the spirit of ascot, 
of Popery, and of infidelity, among the nations of the 
earth ; thus preparing the way for the last convulsive 
seats of revolution, and of the conspiracies, among kings 
and their armies, against the peace and happiness of the 
world, and the honor and glory of Jesus Christ. These 
are the symbolical frogs, the unclean spirits of de- 
mons, which John saw “ come out of the mouth of the 
dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of 


ἐ “ἢ 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 401 


the mouth of the false prophet,”* prepare the way for 
great commotions, and lead on and gather “ the kings 
of the earth, and of the whole world, to the battle of 
that great day of God Almighty.” 

Who that witnessed the effects produced on the 
mind of Europe by the American Revolution, and after- 
wards by the glory of the French Republic, and had 
seen the anti-Christian nations shaken like a reed be- 
fore the wind, at the blast of the mighty hero of that 
stormy day, during his short and eventful career, like 
a devastating hurricane among them, would have ever 
dreamed, that the despotism of the old Roman Empire 
would have recovered its power, placed back the fallen 
sovereigns of Europe on their tottering thrones, and 
restored the world to its former state? Yet have we 
seen these things. The spirit of absolute despotic 
power is rife among the crowned heads, and they have 
combined to support each other, in defence against, 
and defiance of, the spirit of liberty among their ‘sub- 
jects. The privileged and pampered few oppress and 
crush the mass. 

When the Pope, too, was made the captive of Na- 
poleon, and Rome became an appendage of the French 
emperor; when the Catholic religion was expelled 
from France, and atheism established in its stead ; 
when the Jesuits were expelled from different nations, 
and the kings of the earth, in the language of Scrip- 
ture, seemed to have been filled with such hatred of 
the whore as to eat up her flesh; who would have 
ever thought that Popery should recover from the 
shock? Yet has it regained a powerful influence m 
France ; possessed itself of advantages in Great Britain ; 
and is at present in a state of more ardent activity, 


* Rev. 16. 13. 


1 
402 THE SEASON AND SIGNS, . 


and buoyed up with more sanguine hopes of ultimately 
and universally inundating the earth, than almost at 
any previous period of its history. We need not de- 
tain the reader by presenting statistical details, or re- 
ferring to authorities on these matters ; but refer him 
to the weekly periodicals and popular journals of the ᾿ 

day. The increase of Popery cannot fail to arrest the — 
attention of the most careless observer of the signs of 
the times. 

The atheistical and infidel spirit of France, (leaauan 
which has prevailed to a great extent for haifa cen- 
tury, is yet diffusing itself. This demon, proceeding 
out of the mouth of “the dragon,” appeared first, and 
acted a most conspicuous part, in that prime. intel- 
lectual juggler Voltaire, who, with his confederates, 
roused the world into the phrenzy of atheism ; not by 
the accuracy of his reasoning, the depth of his  phi- 
losophy, or the extent of his information ; but by the 
audacity of his false statements, the artfulness of. his. 
insinuations, the wilfulness of his misrepresentation 
of facts, the impudence of his mendacity, the profane- 
ness of his wit, and the corruption of French litera- 
ture, which dagasted him with prodigious power in 
debauching the human mind. Like the spawn of that 
salacious animal the frog, his malignant. spirit multi- 
plied its offspring with amazing rapidity. Having 
filled France with 15. blasphemies and impiety, it 
fecundated, and brought to life, the horrors of the 
French Revolution—that tremendous political earth- 
quake, which made the kingdoms of Europe totter to 
their foundations, and which has left France the stag- 
nant marsh, the putrid pool, that ever since has been 
generating and diffusing its pestilential miasma. We 
may trace it in the profane mirth and levity, the sci- 
entific sensuality, the contempt of Christian institu- 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 403 


tions and of the obligations of the marriage compact, 
the multiplication of crimes, the socialism, the wild, 
restless, reckless spirit of insubordination, and the 
thirst for glory, which mark sige mighty and chivalrous 
nation. 

Other nations have not escaped from the influence 
of infidelity. It has shown itself in different forms ; 
in the neology of Germany ; in the ridiculous boast- 
ings and publications which some fifteen or twenty 
years since poured forth from the British press; in 
the practical contempt of spiritual Christianity by the 
priesthood and higher classes of Catholic countries, 
mingled with a blind, zealous, superstitious observance 
of the dead and putrid forms of the Catholic church ; 
and in the modern Unitarianism of Great Britain and 
the United States. Our own country has by no means 
escaped from its baneful effects. While there has 
been an advance in the standard of piety in the 
churches, there has been an equal advance in the bold- 
ness, impudence, and ignorant, arrogant pretensions 
of infidelity, of which the press, especially in many of 
our penny papers, and in some of our higher literary 
periodicals, is but the exponent. We ought not to 
flatter ourselves that the world has fallen in love with 
peace and Christianity. The spirits of demons are at 
work, and panting for opportunities to slake the thirst 
for loud, which frequent scenes of violence and 
cupidity betray. 

11. The time of the end, or the end of the sien, that ts, 
the season during which the great periods of chronologi- 
cal prophecy run out, and the great things so long pre- 
dicted will transpire, is described to us as characterized 
by very strong and marked signs, and particularly by 
signs in the heavens.* 'The sun shall be darkened, the 

* Matt. 24. 


1 
404: THE SEASON AND SIGNS 


moon shall not give her light, the stars shall fall from 
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken, 
There shall also be famines, pestilences, and earth- 
quakes. It is supposed by some, and we think with 
some plausibility, that while these physical events are 
to be regarded as symbolical of the revolutions and 
commotions of empires, and of the prevalence of all 
the evils of earthquakes and famines wont to attend 
them, they nevertheless will, to some extent, literally 
oecur. Striking atmospheric and celestial phenomena 
shall be observed, which, being beyond the reach of 
man’s philosophy, may be regarded as the visible sym- 
bols which God himself hangs out im the heavens to 
predict the consummation coming. It is remarkable 
that, for the last hundred, and especially the last fifty 
or sixty years, the atmospheric and celestial phe- 
nomena have been more marked, frequent, and varied, 
than in any previous age of the world. There are not 
many definite accounts of the Aurora Borealis* to be 
traced further back than about one hundred and fifty 
years. We have had a series of very marked total 
eclipses of the sun, that will not occur again for many 


* The following lines of Lucretius are as near to an accurate 
description of this phenomenon, as anything we meet in remote 
antiquity. 

Nocturnasque faces cceli, sublimi volantes, 

Nonne vides longos flammarum ducere tractus, 

In quascunque dedit partes natura meatum ? 

Non cadere in terram stellas et sidera cernis ? 
Luer. ii. 206,-&c, 

See also Tac. Hist. v. 13. 

The description by Josephus of the extraordinary sights in the 
Heavens, at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem, cannot, with- 
out assuming too great liberties, as Archbishop Newcome has done, 
be made coincident with auroral coruscations. See Newcome’s 
Observations, &c., pp. 263, 264. ; 


OF CHRIST’S COMING. 4.05 


years ; and we have had meteoric showers that filled 
the minds of beholders with wonder. 

Some astronomers have told us, that they rejoiced 
to live in these days, for the abundant and extraordi- 
nary celestial phenomena transpiring. . It is said, that 
no less than fifteen hundred stars have recently faded 
from the vault of heaven, and some of them were 
observed in a state of conflagration. © Frightful earth- 
quakes have occurred in different parts of the world. 
Famines have extensively prevailed, and of the most 
fatal character, in several nations of the East. A large 
portion of the population of Great Britain, through 
oppressive legislation, are actually at this time ἴῃ ἃ 
starving condition. France is but a slumbering vol- 
cano, and other nations are in a restless and uneasy 
condition. 

Ever since the French Revolution, the peculiar signs, 
both moral and political, which it is predicted shall 
mark the time of the end, have been developing. In 
a few words, the nations of the earth are rearing po 
standard of infidelity; Popery is propagating - 
abominations ; the Ottoman Empire is wasting ἐμὰν. 
the Gospel is extensively propagated, and has been 
preached in nearly every nation on earth; the Bible 
has been translated into more than one hundred and 
fifty languages ; an extraordinary movement has been 
made in favor of the Jews; the world is sunk in fatal 
security and indifference, and laughs at the thought of 
danger ; a large portion of the church, like the foolish 
virgins, has fallen asleep ; the spirit of despotism has 
forged fresh chains to enslave the minds of men, and to " 
oppress the nations of the earth; the preparation is 
making for a great and fearful crisis; the kings and 
rulers of the earth are leaguing and conspiring to- 
gether, and becoming involved more and more in their 

35 


406 THE SEASON AND SIGNS, ETC.: 


ambitious schemes and enterprises; and the Lord is 
sealing his people, pouring out his Spirit, and gather- 
ing in his elect. Verily we must be blind indeed, if 
we cannot discern the signs of the times. 

The judgment of the Ancient of Days, for aught we 
can tell, may have already begun to sit in Heaven, and 
the signs in the sun, moon and stars, distress of na- 
tions, &c., may soon be transferred to earth. Already 
we hear the roaring of the sea and waves; the break- 
ing forth of popular commotions; men’s hearts begin 
to fail them through fear, in looking after those things 
to come upon the earth ; and the powers of the political 
heavens, or constitutions of governments, begin to 
shake. All these things have been transpiring, in 
greater or less activity, ever since A. D. 1792, when, 
very probably, the twelve hundred and sixty years | 
ended, and the seventy-five years, for the time of the 
end, commenced ; and if so, then lift up your heads, 
ye saints, for your redemption draweth nigh. The 
Lord’s coming in the clouds of heaven is fore-signi- 
fied by all these things, and is even at the doors. 

Fellow Christian! it-is your privilege to rejoice. 
You shall enter into the joy of your Lord. \ But, im- 
penitent reader, the report of the coming of the Lord 
should strike you with terror. Prepare to meet your 
God! “Be wise now, therefore, oh ye kings: be 
instructed, ye judges of the earth. Serve the Lord 
with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son 
lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when 
his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they 
that put their trust in him.”* 


* Ps. 10-12, 


GCHAPTER-:- XIV. 
THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 


“ THERE shall come in the last days, scoffers, walk- 
ing after their own lusts, and saying, Where i is the 
promise of his coming’? for since the fathers fell 
asleep, all things continue as they were from the be- 
ginning of the creation.”* ‘The phrase, “ last days,” | 
used in the Sacred Scriptures ; sometimes, indefi- 
nitely, to denote futurity ; sometimes the general 
period of the dispensation that should succeed the 
Mosaic—the gospel days, as we say; and sometimes 
the period of that dispensation when it is drawing toa 
close. In whatever sense we understand it here, it is 
a prediction,—that the idea of the second visible and 
glorious coming of Jesus Christ would be rejected 
with ridicule and contempt,—and that men would jus- 
tify their infidelity on this subject, by their appeals 
to an alleged uniformity and perpetuity in the laws of 
nature. . 

The prediction receives, at this day, a remarkable 
accomplishment. During the entire period of the 
present dispensation, there has been more of incre- 
dulity in the world, and of a disposition to scoff 
at the idea of the coming of Jesus Christ, the Messiah 
of God, than there was before its introduction. Pre- 
vious to his first coming, not only were the Jews, but 


* 2 Peter, 3. 3. 


1 
408 : THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION, ’ 


the whole world, in expectation of the appearance of 
some great and illustrious personage, who should im- 
part knowledge and diffuse happiness among men. 
Whatever men thought of their several systems of 
religion, and however multiform was their idolatry, 
this was a favorite idea, entertained and inculcated 
alike by poets and philosophers, priests and people. - 
Since that day, the spirit of scoffing infidelity has pre- 
sumed much on the ground of the Saviour’s outward car- 
riage, and humble spirit, and ignominious death. Per- . 
haps at no period has there been more indifference and 
practical infidelity on the subject of the second com- 
ing of Christ than of late years. The spirit of infi- 
delity has fortified itself by means both of mental and 
physical science. The event, with its immediate and 
necessary attendants, as set forth in the Sacred Scrip- 
tures, seems to be so entirely miraculous, so contrary 
to all the known and established laws of nature, so 
unlike anything that has ever occurred within the ex- 
perience of any now alive on the earth, or who have 
lived for centuries, that they cannot believe it ever 
will be. siete 
We will not say, that infidelity on this subject exists 
precisely in this form in the church; but, it most un- 
questionably has exerted its influence on the explana- 
tions of the Bible, adopted by many learned theolo- 
gians, taught in the schools, and preached in the pul- 
pits at the present day. The neological writers in 
Germany, and those in this country, and others who 
adopt their psychological principles, find it by no 
means difficult to explain away everything like mira- 
cles recorded in the Bible, believing that in so doing 
they commend it to rational minds ; and prophecy 
itself, after it has been sufficiently generalized, and 
rendered perfectly vague by the application of false 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 409 


principles of biblical exegesis, by the misapplication 
of the true,—has been resolved into the sagacious pre- 
science and remarks of wise men ;—or réndered so 
utterly unlike the fulfilment, as to make it difficult to 
say, whether it is not even more ridiculous than it is 
vague and fanciful.* Even where neological princi- 
ples are condemned, and miracles admitted and taught, 
still a style of exegesis extensively obtains, which 
throws this grand and prominent event of prophecy in 
the shade,—which destroys the harmony of predic- 
tions,—which refers the promise of his coming to 
mere providential movements, secured by the regular 
action of existing moral, political, and physical 
causes,—and which gives undue prominence and im- 
portance to the efforts of man for the conversion of 
the world, and makes this event, and not the coming 
of Christ, the grand object of expectation. 

Our design in this chapter is, to give due consider- 
ation to the objection, against the second personal 
coming of Jesus Christ, which is founded on the uni- 
form and established action of secondary causes, and 
its utter inconsistency with the laws of nature, and the 
experience of the world. 

There is a class of objections, commonly urged on 
this subject, which deserve no answer—such as the 
following :—This and the other man of learning and 
piety think differently ;—the weight of public opinion 


* We regret to say, that Professor Stuart’s “ Hints on the In- 
terpretation of the Prophecies,”—especially his remarks about the 
two witnesses, their death and resurrection, and about the sep- 
timo-octavo head of the beast having found its antitype in Nero, 
and the superstitious fears and belief of many that he had not 
died, but would re-appear upon the throne,—afford a striking spe- 
cimen of this latter description of exegesis. The literal system 
of interpretation, looks for precision, as well as the literality of 
events, in ae fulfilment of prophecy. - 


1 
410 THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION., 


is against the doctrine, and has been. for centuries ;— 
the great mass of commentators for more than a thou- 
sand years have explained the Bible declarations on 
the subject in another way ;—hundreds of fanatics 
have been made, and led away with the wildest extrava- 
gances, by such a belief ;—it is a doctrine that strikes 
at the very root of all industrial occupations, and dis- 
pirits from the enterprise essential to great and perma- 
“nent improvements ;-—it is inconsistent with the com- 
monly received notions of the day of judgment, a 
general conflagration, and the dissolution of the 
globe ;—it is altogether ridiculous and absurd ;—it will 
create excitement and trouble in the church ;—it will . 
᾿ destroy the spirituality-of its advocates ;—it sanctions 
the old judaizing spirit ;—it will interfere with our 
benevolent machinery for the conversion of the 
world ;—it will destroy the spirit of Missions ;—it will 
paralyze Christian effort for the conversion of the 
world ;—it will deprive us of the most powerful and 
efficacious motives, drawn from the prospect of the 
speedy and universal conversion of the world, by 
which to induce and stimulate the Christian commu- 
nity to liberal contributions and to active, prayerful 
effort ;—it will derange all our fondly cherished no- 
tions, hopes, and expectations about the march of im- 
provement, the progress of civilisation, and the melio- 
ration of the world ;—it will subject us to the neces- 
sity of severer study and closer investigations: of the 
word of God, and to the renunciation of favorite dog- 
mas or positions, which we have assumed and taught, 
and never for a moment allowed ourselves to doubt ;— 
it will place the Christian church in a very different 
attitude and relation towards the world, shut us out 
from active participation in the political contests of 
human governments, and irritate the wicked ;—it will 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 411 


throw a deep and sombre hue upon the religion of 
Jesus Christ, and, instead of attracting by its loveli- 
ness, repel by its horribleness ; and it has, in fact, been 
used for various purposes injurious to personal holi- 
ness, to social prosperity, and to political tranquil- 
lity—not to mention other objections of kindred 
character. 

It may suffice to remark, that some of these objec- 
tions are just as valid against the popular view of the 
gospel, of the Millenium, and of the day of judgment, 
as they are against the pre-millenial coming of 
Christ ;—that others are totally without foundation ;— 
and that many, if not most, originate in perfect igno- 
rance, or in the misapprehension, of the Scriptural 
doctrine of Christ’s coming, being suggested, either 
by assumed and fallacious notions about the nature 
of the day of judgment and the design of that coming, 
or possessing importance and force entirely from a 
want of due attention to the harmony of events and 
circumstances precedent, connected with, and subse- 
quent to it, as revealed by different prophets. The 
existence and influence of such a multitude of objec- 
tions current in the church, is proof that the skep- 
ticism of the world has invaded the church, which 
latter, by the way, is the more immediate field or 
range within which the apostle contemplated the ob- 
jection to be current. Much of the prevalent skep- 
ticism on the whole subject of Christ’s coming, is 
called forth by the pre-millenial date assigned to it. The 
spiritualist is just as much exposed to the force of the 
objection, founded on the miraculous character of the 
procedure as we are, and may it not be, that it is 
somewhat of the same skepticism of the world, to be 
found in the church, which is specially offended by the 
proximity of the event? 


1 
412 ‘THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION, - 


It is, however, a simple question with us, who 
believe in the Divine authority of the Scriptures— 
whether it be, or be not the fact, that Jesus Christ and 
his prophets and apostles, infallibly inspired of God, 
have testified that he will come and destroy the guilty 
nations of the earth, raise the dead bodies of his saints, 
transform his living saints, and establish his kingdom 
over the remnant of mankind in the flesh, who shall 
escape the general destruction of the anti-Christian 
nations. In determining the import of their testimo- 
ny, we have already seen that the language of the Sa- 
cred Scriptures must be explained by the same gen- 
eral principles of interpretation which are approved 
and sanctioned by the common sense of mankind, and 
which the human mind, left unembarrassed by sophis- 
try and prejudices of any sort, naturally adopts and 
applies to determine the import of speech, as used 
among men on ordinary topics. These principles 
have been asserted, defended, and applied ; and they 
bring out, as we Kav ait by various arguments, 
the resi above stated as the true and only legiti- 
mate meaning of the predictions. 

The objection we at present contemplate, relates to 
the credibility of the things themselves as set forth 
in prophecy, imasmuch as the testimony of Jesus 
Christ and his prophets, thus interpreted, requires us 
to believe that events will occur which ate contrary to 
our own experience, and to that of the world. Nothing 
like them, it is said, has ever been seen. The uni- 
formity of the causes which have been in action from 
the beginning of the creation, renders it impossible 
to believe in the second coming of Jesus Christ. 

The objection is of a mixed character, partly meta- 
physical and partly historical. Of course our reply 
must be of like character. . 


THE-SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 413 


1, THE OBJECTION IS FOUNDED ON A FALSE ASSUMPTION. 
It assumes, that the evidence of testimony is of no 
force or conelusiveness beyond the limits of expe- 
rience. Thus, it is said, we see the fire burns, lead 
sinks in water, a stone let fall tends to the earth, the 

‘tising sun diffuses light, and the withdrawal of his 
beams leaves the world in darkness. These and 
similar events, which we find uniformly related, the 
human mind, naturally and instinctively, refers to some 
established law of nature, and judges them to be re- 
lated to each other as cause and effect, so that uni- 
formly, invariably, where one occurs we expect the 
other will follow. We are determined, it is said, by 
the very constitution of our nature, thus to infer a 
permanent, uniform, and established sequence of 
events, and to believe that fire will always burn, iron 
will always sink in water, and stone let fall will always 
tend to the earth, and the rising and setting of the sun 
will always continue to secure an alternation of light 
and darkness. God has so made the human mind, 
and he, it is said, is responsible for the results which it 
thus instinctively and intuitively embraces. 

Now, should a man tell us that he has seen the axe 
of a woodman fly from its helve and float on the water, 
the rock leap from its place and fly into the air, the 
fire lose its power to consume, and the sun to dispel 
darkness, his testimony, so contrary to our experience, 
could not be believed. How, it is asked, can we have 
any evidence of that which, before it can be believed, 
we must set aside the experience of the world, yea, 
and set at naught or violate a fundamental law of our 
mental constitution. It is denied by some, that we can 
have any evidence at all of events which contradict or 
contravene the regular and established law οὗ se- 
quence, because the mind, by a sort of physical neces- 


l 
414 THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION, . 


sity, is determined to believe that they occur by some 
necessary or invariable connection between cause and 
effect. Hence it has been maintained, that should we 
even see such things ourselves, and others equally 
miraculous, we must rather doubt the evidence of our 
own senses, since they may possibly deceive us. 
The rational evidence, by which the mind is deter- 
mined, in the belief of the uniform infallible sequence 
of events, is claimed to be paramount to all others. 

This kind of specious sophistry has bewildered 
some, who have not taken a sufficiently extended 
range, in their analysis of the human mind, or in their 
observation of the sequence of events. 

This objection, by asserting the paramount claims 
of this alleged intuitive evidence, does, in fact, de- 
mand the rejection of almost every other species of 
evidence ; such as the evidence of testimony, the evi- 
_ dence of sense, the evidence of moral reasoning, yea, 
and the evidence of our very consciousness, which 
cannot well be separated from that of sense. When 
these are contradictory of the evidence by which we 
infer uniform effects from uniform causes, the objec- 
tion declares, that they are only valid and conclusive, 
inso far as they defer to this the paramount species of 
evidence. But it is notorious, and it becomes the 
skeptic to account for it, how it is possible that this 
tendency of the human mind to yield to these several 
species of evidence, is not as much a part of its con- 
stitution as the other. The objector is bound to 
prove, that the uniformity of causation, which forms 
the basis of one species of evidence only, is to be the 
umpire. This he cannot do. The mind is conscious 
of a power to reason and judge, by weighing and 
balancing these different sorts of evidence. It is true 
that certain causes uniformly produce certain results, or 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 4.15 


that, under a given set of circumstances, certain events 
are always found related in the order of sequences. 
But it is also just as true, and the evidence in proof 
of -it is the very same with the former, that various 
causes are antagonistical, and that often, a variety of 
causes are so combined, that the results, which flow 
from these opposing or combined causes, are very 
different from those which any one of them would 
produce, when left singly to operate. 

The great fallacy of the objection lies here. It takes 
it for granted, that, in requiring us to believe a miracle, 
or that which contravenes some law of nature, we are 
required to reject the evidence flowing from the rela- 
tion of cause and effect. Not so. A miracle requires 
from us the admission of other causes in action than 
those which our observation and experience are ac- 
quainted with. . 

Thus, fire will burn, anda stone let fall will tend to 
the earth; such we naturally and instinctively be- 
lieve will always be the case, if nothing intervenes to 
prevent it. Other causes, however, may be brought 
into action, to prevent the fire from burning and the 
stone from falling. These causes become known to 
some, but not to all. Chemical combinations, too, 
of a most surprising nature, can be produced by those 
acquainted with the more recondite laws of nature, 
which perfectly overwhelm the ignorant, such as 
visible solids being produced out of invisible gases— 
violent and brilliant inflammation by the action of water 
and the like. The objection, if adhered to consist- 
ently, would shut us out from the. knowledge of 
the more recondite laws of nature, since it claims to 
make single, more obvious, and generally known laws 
of nature the basis or standard of all evidence. This 
mankind will never consent to. The skeptic may 


l : 
416- THE SKEPTICS OBJECTION, . az 


talk, and speculate, and reason, as he pleases, but 
mankind do not, and will not, pay that sort and degree 
of deference he claims for the uniformity of causation. 
This should not, and could not, be the fact if his ob- 
jection were true. He is therefore bound to show 
how it so happens, that if, as he-says, the human mind 
cannot believe a thing which contradicts the known 
laws of causation, there should be such an immense 
amount of credulity in the world. The fact of cre- 
dulity, so extensively existing, is a proof that the 
mind is not invariably, infallibly, and by a sort of phy- 
sical necessity of its own, determined in the rejection 
of all that is inconsistent with the uniformity of causa- 
tion. The phenomenon is easily explained by us, 
but utterly inexplicable on the skeptic’s assumptions. 
We are conscious of ignorance, with regard to the 
manner and extent to which causes may be combined, 
and of the results which will follow from such combi- 
nation. The grand business of the mind, in the aequi- 
sition of knowledge, is to become acquainted with 
more and more of the endless forms and varieties of 
combined causes and their results. Our conscious 
ignorance daily admonishes us to be modest, and not _ 
to presume to square all our own observations, and the 
testimony of others, by any particular cause entirely 
uncombined with others. We are~ continually our- 
selves correcting the inferences, which, according to 
the law of human thought referred to, we have erro- 
neously drawn from too partial an observance and 
knowledge of causes in action. This consciousness 
of ignorance, and of continually extending and cor- 
recting our own knowledge, predisposes us to receive 
the testimony of others, as being itself a sufficient 
evidence, where there is no reason to doubt the vera- 
city of the witness, or his capacity of observation, 


THE SKEPTIC’s OBJECTION. 417 


when he reports to us facts which he has seen and 
knows, but we do not. By far the largest por- 
tion of our knowledge of physical science rests pre- 
cisely on this basis. To indulge skepticism, because 
the things testified are beyond and contradictory to 
our experience and observation, is to consign our minds 
to incurable ignorance on a thousand themes. 

In fact, the thing is impracticable; for however 
strong may be the tendency of the mind to rest in the 
uniformity of causation, that is, in the uniform and 
established sequence of the events it has observed, 
where there has been but a partial observance of 
them, its consciousness of ignorance, till it has been 
inflated by vanity, predisposes it to receive, and to rely 
upon the testimony of others, whose veracity is not 
doubted. Nowhere, and at no period of life, is this ten- 
dency to place implicit reliance on testimony, so strong 
—even where our own experience and observation are 
contradicted—as in infancy andearly youth. This is 
just as much a law of our mental constitution as the 
other. It is just as instinctive as the other, but much 
stronger; for it requires a long series of observation 
and experience—establishing the fact that men are not 
all veracious, but many among them disposed to de- 
ceive—before the mind even feels the obligation of 
balancing evidence. A tendency to rely on testimony, 
and to rest in the uniformity of causation, are both the 
constitution of God; and if, at any time, as they often 
do, they should conflict with each other, our consci- 
ousness of ignorance, as to the endless varieties of 
combined causes and their results, predisposes and 
prepares us to receive the testimony of a veracious 
witness, even where it contradicts our limited obser- 
vation or experience, in preference to our reasonings 
and philosophizings. It is true, that some minds, 


1 
418 THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION, ° 


whose professional interest and occupations lead them 
to sift and to impeach testimony, or whose own self- 
approbation and vanity may be sustained by a more ex- 
tended acquaintance with the numerous and common 
liabilities to error, may become skeptical, and arro- 
gating superior wisdom and discernment to them- 
selves, begin to doubt the reality of all that lies not 
within the range of their own perceptions ; but it is 
not so with the vast mass of human beings. Self- 
adulation, with the former, destroys the influence of 
conscious ignorance, and they must pay, in their 
skepticism, and consequently circumscribed know- 
ledge, the just penalty which their wise and holy 
Creator awards to presumptuous vanity. Such men 
are ever learning, but never coming to the knowledge 
of the truth. 

The only question, then, that it concerns us to settle, 
so far as it relates to the metaphysics of the objection, 
is, were Jesus Christ and his prophets and apostles 
possessed of sufficient veracity, wisdom, and discern- 
ment, to be entitled to confidence ?—in other words, 
is there reason to believe that they had such a superior 
knowledge of the various causes now in action, and of 
those which may-hereafter be brought into action— 
and of the manner and extent of their combination by 
our great Creator, as to meet us, in our own conscious 
ignorance, and to forewarn us truthfully, of what we 
could not possibly conjecture or foreknow 1? 

Admitting, as we who believe the Scriptures do 
that God,—the great first cause,—who is perfectly 
acquainted with all possible causes, and all possible 
combinations of them, and who is ordering, arranging, 
and combining them unceasingly in his Providence,— 
has disclosed to them his plans and purposes, and the 
results which he has intended to secure, we find no 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 4.19 


difficulty whatever in believing and realizing the 
appropriate influence of those great and wonderful 
things which are predicted concerning the visible 
appearance of Jesus Christ for the triumph and glorifi- 
cation of his saints, the infliction of vengeance, the 
destruction of his enemies, and the establishment 
of his kingdom on the earth. Our minds apprehend 
just the very thing which cures their skepticism, and 
gives them rest and contentment. We see in the 
agency of God to be exerted in certain new combi- 
nations of natural causes, just the power adequate to 
the result predicted. The physical causes now in 
action are but the uniform and established agency of 
God, and therefore, just in proportion to our reliance 
on the uniformity of the causation we witness, is our 
confidence in the result predicted, when we have the 
indisputable testimony of him who orders,—combines, 
and gives energy to all causes,—that thus it shall be. 
No metaphysical subtleties or skepticism can, under 
such circumstances, impair our faith. The two 
elements of our rational nature,—the tendency of the 
mind to rely on the uniformity of causation, and on the 
testimony of a veracious witness,—are not found here | 
conflicting, as in many cases, where mere human 
testimony is concerned ; but are in perfect harmony, 
as we rest in the great First Cause, which knows and 
controls all others, and has made known to us the 
result he designs to secure, by a future combination 
of secondary’ causes—or, in other words, to bring 
about a predicted crisis in the history of our globe. 
In all this there is nothing unphilosophical.. Nothing 
to justify but everything to condemn, on rational and 
metaphysical principles merely, the ribaldry and 
scoffings of the skeptical, the superficial mockers of 
the last days, who say, “ Since the fathers have fallen 


] 
420 THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION... ° 


asleep, all things continue as they were from the 
beginning of the creation.” And this leads me to 
remark in reply to the objection, that ) 


Il. Boru THE PAST HISTORY OF THE WORLD, AND AN 
EXTENDED OBSERVATION OF THE VARIOUS PHYSICAL, 
MORAL, AND POLITICAL CAUSES NOW IN ACTION, LEAD US 
TO THE CONCLUSION, THAT JUST SUCH A CRISIS, AS THAT 
PREDICTED TO BE BROUGHT ABOUT THROUGH THE COMING 
ΟΕ Jesus CHRIST, MAY BE EXPECTED. 


There are monuments existing, on which are 
engraven the memorials of fearful catastrophes which 
have already occurred in the history of this globe. 
The geologist finds, in the different rocky strata, which 
form the crust of this globe, innumerable traces of 
mighty revolutions, by which whole genera of animals 
have been involved in utter ruin. It is clear to his 
mind, that there have been convulsions which have 
rocked the very globe ;—upheaving at one time, and 
submerging at another, its loftiest mountains ;—driving 
the ocean on the land, and lifting up and ‘making 
bare the channels of the mighty deep. It is true he 
finds, as he thinks, secondary causes now in action, 
which are adequate to explain these phenomena. But 
grant him all he asks on this subject, he must admit that 
these causes, by various combinations, become more 
potent and active, and develope themselves, at times, 
with surprising rapidity and suddenness, in some 
crisis which has proved fatal to animal life, and 
involved in the very rock itself its imperishable 
memorials. 

While gazing on the wreck of a former world, and 
studying the character of whole orders of its inhabit- 
ants which have perished, he is constrained to admit, 
that what has once, or as he thinks, oftener occurred, 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 4.91 


may occur again. Although he has seen nothing like 
it, nor ever met with one whose experience and 
observation can throw any light on such astounding 
phenomena, and must date these great epochs of the 
earth’s convulsion beyond the history of man; yet does 
he not, on that account, deny the evidence of his 
senses, and skeptically reject the inference which his 
mind draws from the facts everywhere meeting his 
eye, that there have been terrible crises in the history 
of our globe, when new and powerful and marvellously 
active combinations of causes have been at work, 
rending and rocking, ruining and re-modelling the 
superficial framework of the globe. : 

It is imdeed a gloomy prospect which the mere 
philosophical geologist has, in looking down the vista 
of coming ages, »Some have even thought they had 
detected the mechanical forces in action, and calcu- 
lated the periods at which the different powers, now 
held dormant by their antagonism, shall accumulate 
sufficient momentum to upset the axis of the globe, 
and alternately to cause the waters of its oceans to rush 
from north to south and from south to north, and to 
bury its inhabitants in promiscuous ruin. 

Prophecy bids all our fears upon this subject to be 
at rest ; and while the Book which contains the pre- 
dictions for the future, tells us of a past destruction of 
the world, by the breaking up of the fountains of the 
great deep, and by the deluge, which submerged the 
loftiest peaks of the highest mountain ridges, it also 
apprises us, that such a catastrophe shall never again 
occur. Nevertheless, it as distinctly declares, that all 
things shall not for ever continue the same ; for another 
fearful crisis, even of the existing order of the globe, 
is approaching, and other elements than that of water 
are reserved and destined fpr its accomplishment. 

36* 


4.22 THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. ' 


The men who scoff and laugh at the idea of Christ’s 
second coming to destroy the anti-Christian nations of 
the earth, and who found their confidence on the uni- 
formity of causation, might learn the fo!ly of their vain 
boastings,both from the phenomena of physical science, 
and from the monuments and records of history. 

The facts which geological science, at this day, con- 
siders to be fully established, respecting the internal 
structure of our globe, are truly alarming; and, al- 
though the superficial student of nature may be dis- 
posed to think that its promptings are in opposition to 
the word of God, it is but contributing to illustrate and 
to confirm some of the most wonderful and appalling 
truths of revelation. The rocky strata of the globe 
are but a thin crust, compared with its entire mass,— 
like the peel of an orange, or the shell of an egg, 
compared with the whole. The centre is a mass of 
liquid fire, which, coming in contact with the waters 
that percolate and circulate beneath the channels of 
the ocean and the foundations of the mountains, ge- 
nerates the mighty chemical and mechanical agent of 
steam, so capable of producing results the most as- 
tounding. It storms and thunders through these sub- 
terraneous regions, now driving and lashing the angry 
surges of abyssmal fires against the columns and 
arches which support the mountains’ base, making 
whole regions of the earth to shake and tremble with 
its terrible internal tempests,—now lifting whole con- 
tinents or vast segments of the globe, cracking, and 
rending, and dislocating old formations, and throwing 
up new mountains and islands from the very depths of 
ocean,—and now forcing, through volcanic craters, 
immense torrents of burning lava, or mud and ashes, 
or rocks and stones, commingling with the steam es- 
caping through these safety-valves, so necessary, and 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 4.23 


so wisely and widely scattered round the globe, to 
prevent a general explosion, and the universal confla- 
gration of the planet on which we dwell. 

Milton’s description of Hell is not altogether fiction, 
when he speaks of Jehovah’s 


«ς Dungeon horrible, on all sides round 
As one great furnace flamed.” 


“fiery deluge, fed 
With ever burning sulphur unconsumed.” 


ἐς sulphurous hail 
Shot forth in storm, o’erblown.” 


“ὁ thunder, 
Winged with red lightning and impetuous rage, 
Bellowing through the vast and boundless deep.” 


*¢ The tossing of his fiery waves,” 
And 
: “the force 
Of subterranean wind, transporting hill ὦ 
Torn from Pelorus, or the shatter’d side 
Of thundering Etna, whose combustible 
And fuel’d entrails thence conceiving fire, 
Sublimed with mineral fury, aid the winds, 
And leave a singed bottom, all involved 
With stench and smoke.”’ 


They have their reality not many miles beneath our 
feet. We need not think it strange and contrary to 
the laws of nature—a thing incredible and impossible 
to be believed—that these central fires should one 
day rage with wilder fury, and these mighty agents, in 
some new and more effective combinations, should 
accomplish the prediction of the prophets, who said, 
when they saw, in vision, the coming of the Lord, that 
the mountains quake at him, the hills melt, and the 


1 
424 . THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. , 


earth is burnt up at his presence,*—the mountains 
flowed down at his presence. It is only necessary for 
God to give a greater degree of activity to causes now 
in action, or to combine them more extensively than 
at present, in order to secure this result. 

But geology is not the only science that lifts the 
veil and lets us see the preparation God is making, by 
physical agents, for the catastrophe he has predicted. 
The chemist adds his testimony of terror, and tells us, 
that there are elements in our atmosphere, and mine- 
rals within our soils and rocks, abundantly adequate 
to the conflagration and destruction of the world. All 
that is needed on the part of God, so far as physical 
agents are concerned, is to increase the amount of 
oxygen in the atmosphere, and the fiery elements of 
dissolution and destruction will leap from the rocks 
and stones, the earth and trees, and every object in 
nature, and realize, most fully, the descriptions of the 
prophets. ‘His throne was like the fiery flame, his 
wheels as burning fire ; a fiery stream issued and came 
forth from before him.’’t ‘A fire shall devour before 
him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about 
him.”’{ ‘Behold, Jehovah will come with fire, and 
with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger 
with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire.”§ ‘The 
Lord Jesus shall be revealed from Heaven, with his 
mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on 
them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel 
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall be punished with 
everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, 
and from the glory of his power: when he shall come 
to be glorified in his saints, and to be admired in all 
them that believe.’’|| 


* Nahum, 1. 5. t Dan. 7. 9. t Ps. 50. 3. 
9 Is. 66. 15. || 2 Thess. 1. 7-10. 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 4.25 


Nor do we want other corroborating evidence. 
History informs us of two great and wondrous classes® 
of facts in direct opposition to what the scoffing infi- 
del may style the uniformity of causation ;—Firsr, 


that sudden, terrible, and devastating convulsions have 


at least once destroyed the entire world, and occa- 
sionally thereafter various parts of it; and, sEconp, 
that numerous, frequent, and visible appearances and 
manifestations of God have been made,—yea, that at 
no stage in the progress of the world’s history, has 
he long withheld from it the visible miraculous tokens 
of his immediate and personal presence. 

The apostle Peter refers to the destruction of the 
world by the Mosaic deluge, as to an event in its his- 
tory, of which none can be ignorant but those who 
are so willingly. ‘For this,” says he, “they willingly 
are ignorant of, that, by the word of God, the heavens 
were of old, and the earth standing out of the water 
and in the water, whereby the world that then was, 
being overflowed with water, perished.”* The evi- 
dence in proof of the fact is abundant and full.t An- 
cient coins and medals, inscriptions on marble monu- 
ments, the names of ancient cities, the customs and 
traditions of ancient nations, not even extinct in our 
own day, together with abundant diluvial deposits and 
remains, to be found in all countries, beside other 
geological phenomena, unite their testimony in con- 
firmation of Moses’ account of the submergence, and 
the entire dissolution of the earth as it existed in the 
days of Noah. 

Many geologists think they have discovered monu- 
mental proof, in the very rocks, of much more fearful 
and wonderful convulsions of the globe, than that of 


* 2 Peter,:o..0;.0; t See Wiseman’s Lectures. 


1 
426 THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION.., ᾿ 


the Mosaic deluge, and which must be dated far back 
*in the history of this planet before the deluge, and 
before the period at which the Mosaic account takes 
up the process of creation, and gives the details of 
God’s work, when, from the successive ruins of for- 
mer worlds, he fitted up, in six days, the antediluvian 
for the abode of man. We are not concerned to settle 
questions of this sort, with our yet very limited know- 
ledge of the earth’s structure, and consequent liability 
to err, in our deductions and attempts at generaliza- 
tion. Suffice it to say, that we see nothing in the 
Mosaic account of creation which, when fairly inter- 
preted, would conflict with the position that, anterior 
to the period at which Moses starts, when he says, 
“the earth was without form and void, and darkness 
was upon the face of the deep,’’*—not indeed a chaos, 
but devoid of arrangement and inhabitants, and in- 
volved, as it were, in ruin,—there may have been 
phases of earth, and orders of creatures inhabiting it, 
as unlike the antediluvian as that was unlike this pre- 
sent world, or as this is unlike to the new modification 
and organization which shall take place at the coming 
of Jesus Christ, and the consummation of his kingdom. 
Admitting the fact, we only have increased proof that 
as there have been former and various crises and 
catastrophes in the history of our globe, so may there 
be again, justas Christ and his prophets have predicted. 
It is certain that different sections of the globe— 
different countries, and regions, and cities—have been 
suddenly involved in fearful and fatal rnin. We look 
to the cities of the plain which once stood in the gar- 
den of the Lord, and behold, at present, a sluggish 


sea rolls its heavy waters over their site. Voleanic 


* Genesis, 1. 2. 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 427 


agents have accomplished the destruction of many 
others. But three hundred years since, and Montes 
Nuovo, not far from Naples, now luxuriant with vege- 
tation, was upheaved some three thousand feet above 
the level of the sea, in the space of thirty-six hours. 
Within two years past a river burst forth from a moun- 
tain in Armenia, and bore away with it over the sur- 
rounding country a deluge of mud and water. Islands 
and mountains, within our own day, have been thrown 
up from the depths of ocean and again submerged. 
The causes in action are enough to inspire us with 
dismay, in looking down the vista of future ages. 
And when we look out from our globe, and range be- 
yond our system, the causes for alarm become yet 
more portentous. 

Astronomy teaches us that there are cometary 
bodies which may come across the earth’s path, in 
her orbit round the sun, and excite our fears for 
the result. Mathematical science does indeed cal- 
culate the chances that no coneussion will take place, 
yet it can never demonstrate the impossibility of such 
athing. We point to the asteroids, and to the me- 
teors which sometimes explode in our own atmos- 
phere, as to the wrecks of a former planetary body, 
which once revolved between the planets of Mars and 
Jupiter, to learn the danger of a similar explosion in 
our own. Recent observations among the fixed stars 
have apprised us of the disappearance of many, and 
some in a state of conflagration. Verily, science fur- 
nishes infinitely more reason for the infidel to be ter- 
rified than to scoff. 

The doctrine of chances, and the formulas of the 
mathematical calculus, are but poor consolation for 
us, when we look down the ages of futurity, and ask 
the question, what will become of this globe? It is to 
the word, the »romise, and covenant of our God, 


Ϊ 
4.28 THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. . 


that we look for the certainty of its safety. He has 

«declared, that Jesus’ Christ, the Lord from Heaven, 
the everlasting God, who has all power and authority 
in Heaven and on Siaz4hs will, ere long, visit it ; and 
though he shall accomplish prodigious revolutions and 
desolation in it, and extensive destruction of the na- 
tions, and of its guilty inhabitants, and will pour from 
above and from beneath, the floods of fiery vengeance, 
yet that it shall never be annihilated, but shall come 
forth from the conflagration,—shall rise from its ashes, a 
new and beauteous and glorious world,wherein dwell- 
eth righteousness, and the will of God be done on 
earth, by the remnant of our race that shall be saved, 
as it is done in Heaven. For, Peter says, “ the heavens 
and the earth which are now, by the same word, (which 
once drowned the world), are kept in store, reserved 
unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of 
ungodly men. Nevertheless, we, according to his 
promise, look for new heavens and a new earth ste 
in dwelleth righteousness.” 

Nor should we be startled at the thought of the 
visible appearance of the invisible God. He has often 
assumed an external form, and placed himself before 
the eyesof men. The world is full of historical proofs 
of this fact. They may be found in the words and 
traditions, the customs and superstitions of nations 
unblessed by revelation. But we have the volume of 
the Sacred Scriptures—proved to be an infallible word, 
by arguments, innumerable and irrefragable,—which 
gives us abundant proof that God has often visited the 
world in visible manifestations of his personal pre- 
sence ; yea, and has never very long withheld them. 

No sooner had man fallen, than God in mercy ap- 
proached him in visible form, conversing with: him, 
and reproving him for his guilt, yet promising him a 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 4.29 


deliverer. -When he expelled our first parents from 
the garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim, the visi- 
ble tokens of the divine presence, on the edge of the 
garden, with a flaming fiery sword turning every way 
to keep man off from adventuring to the tree of life.* 
There, before that God, “ who dwelleth between the 
cherubims,” in the shechinah of his glory, the ances- 
tors of our race approached and offered their sacri- 
fices. From him the visible tokens of acceptance and 
approbation were vouchsafed to Abel and withheld 
from Cain, which roused the envy of the latter to 
such a degree, that he murdered his brother, and fled 
into the land of Nod from the presence of the Lord.t} 
To Enoch he appeared and caught him away miracu- 
lously soul and body from earth.{ ‘To Noah he ap- 
peared, and gave warning of the Flood ; and,—after he 
had instructed him to build his ark, had brought the 
creatures into it, shut the door, poured out his tor- 
rents of rain, broken up the fountains of the deep, and 
borne the ark over the billows of the mighty deep,—he 
preserved the remnant of the race, reappeared to him 
in the new world, establishing his covenant, mak- 
ing known his divine constitution, and introducing . 
anew dispensation.§ 

Divine appearances thereafter were frequent; so 
much so, and so extensively, among the sons and chil- 
dren of Noah, the founders of the nations, that there 
is‘not a nation of antiquity which did not only not be- 
lieve in the visible manifestation of God, but had 
abundant records and legends of his apparition. To 
Abraham and Jacob, Isaac and Joseph, Moses and 
Aaron, the visible soleus of his presence were given. 
The Gp tion of Sodom and Gomorrah, the cities of 


* Gen. 3. 24. t Gen. 4. 3-16. t Gen. 5. 24; Heb. 11. 5. 
§ Gen. ch. 7. 8. 9. 
37 


1 
430 — THE SKEPTIC’Ss OBJECTION, - 


the plain, was showed beforehand to Abraham. He 
appeared to Lot also, and having led him forth from 
the midst, the terrible ministers of justice, the fiery 
agents of destruction, executed his vengeance on the 
wicked. He sent his servants, Moses and Aaron, into 
the court of Pharaoh, the proudest and loftiest monarch 
of earth, at that day, and vindicated his glory by a series 
of marvellous miracles,—turning the rod into a ser- 
pent,—the waters of the Nile into blood,—discomfit- 
ing the magicians,—and inflicting stroke after stroke, 
—filling the land with frogs,—turning the dust into 
lice,—sending swarms of flies,— inflicting murrain on 
the cattle,—and the plague of boils and blains on man 
and beast,—causing it to rain a very grievous hail 
throughout a land in which it is not wont to rain,— 
bringing vast armies of locusts to consume every 
green thing in the land,—overspreading it with im- 
penetrable darkness,—smiting with death the first-born 
inevery house,—making a passage through the channel 
of the Red Sea for the whole nation of Israel to pass 
through dry-shod—and drowning Pharaoh and his 
hosts who followed after them in its depths. 

His visible miraculous presence among the camp of 
Israel was permanently lodged in the pillar and cloud 
by day, and of fire by night, which guided them for 
forty years in their march. ‘The bitter waters he 
healed ; the rock in the desert he cleft asunder, and 
from it made the living water to gush forth. ‘The 
earth he caused to open up, and devour the wicked 
conspirators of Korah and his company. He rained 
down manna from heaven, by the space of forty 
years to nourish an entire nation, He sent quails by 
millions, and piled them up in heaps, that they might 
have flesh to eat to their fill; and by a series of mira- 
cles, conducted them on their march from Egypt, 


a 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 431 


through the wilderness to the promised land. He 
came in terrible pomp and majesty, with cloud and 
smoke, with thunder and lightning and tempest, and 
the voice of a trumpet sounding louder and louder, 
and took his station on Mount Sinai, on the rock of 
Horeb, which overlooked the vast plain below, and 
there, in all the glory and terror of his: majesty, pro- 
nounced his law within the sight and hearing of the 
people. ‘ The chariots of God are twenty thousand, 
even thousands of angels; the Lord is among them 
as in Sinai, in the holy place.”* 


ἐς Jehovah,” as Moses sung, “ came from Sinai. 
His uprising was from Seir : 
He displayed his glory from Mount Paran; 
And from the midst of the myriads came forth the Holy One, 
On his right hand streams of fire.” 


He called Moses up to him in the Mount, and con- 
versed with him face to face. He gave him his laws 
and ordinances, and publicly covenanted with the na- 
tion of Israel to be their lawgiver and king, and to 
rule and govern them as His peculiar people. His 
glory filled the tabernacle. He led his hosts victorious 
into Canaan, and, by a series of miracles, drove out 
the heathen from before them, and established them 
in the land that he had sworn to Abraham, to Isaac, 
and to Jacob, to give to them for an inheritance for 
ever. He descended, in the days of Solomon, in the 
cloud of glory, and filled the temple which he had built 
in honor of his excellent majesty. There, too, he 
caused the mechinah to dwell, and lodged in the in- 
most chamber of the temple the token of his visible 
presence, and by Urim and Thummim pronounced his 
oracles from off the mercy seat. 


* Psalm, 68. 17. t Deut. 33. 2. 


6 
a? 


ὉΠ 


l 
432 THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. . 


He. sent his prophets often to the nation, and, by 
miracle after miracle, proved to them that he was not 
slack concerning his promise, until, at last, he came 
down, from Heaven again,—in the person of his Son 
was bornof ἃ woman,—laid in a manger,—nursed as an 
infant,—and reared as a chiid,—until having attained the 
age of thirty years, he came forth to the people as the 
prophet, long promised and expected, and wrought mi- 
racles upon miracles,—healing the sick,—giving sight 
to the blind,—hearing to the deaf,—and speech to the 
dumb,—cleansing the leper,—loosing the bonds of the 
paralytic,—causing the lame to walk,—the dead to live, 
—and raising the putrid corpse from the tomb. He was 
owned of Heaven,—a voice at his baptism proclaiming 
“this is my beloved Son, hear ye him,’’—the Spirit de- 
scending in luminous formas a dove, and hovering over 
him,—and the winds and waves, and very devils, sub- 
mitting to his command. When expiring on his cross, 
the heavens were clothed in blackness—the sun with- 
drew his beams, and for the space of three hours hid 
his face from the crimes of men. The rocks were rent 
asunder, the earth shook and trembled, and his scarred 
and broken body, which had been laid in the tomb, 
rose to life, and came forth with many of his attendant 
saints, who quitted their tombs to attend his presence. 
_ Angels were seen and conversed with, round the 

tomb. He spent forty days with his disciples after 
his resurrection, conversing with them about his king- 
dom, to be established on the earth. In the presence 
of a vast multitude of his disciples, he suddenly 
ascended into Heaven, and left them wondering and 
gazing, till a cloud received him out of their sight, 
and attendant angels awoke them to reflection, asking, 
“Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into the 
heavens ? This same Jesus which is taken up from 

37* 


THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. 433 


you into Heaven, shall so return in like manner as ye 
have seen him go into Heaven.”* And this expecta- 
tion authorized of Heaven, has been cherished ever 
since. The miraculous descent of the Spirit on the day 
of Pentecost,—the wonderful miracles performed by 
the apostles and others, during the first age after the 
Christian era, as well attested as it is possible for any 
historical events to be,—the miraculous events con- 
nected with the destruction of the temple of Jerusa- 
lem and frustration of the attempts to rebuild the 
temple,—together with the continual evolutions of 
his plan, in the fulfilment of predictions, which mark 
out prospectively, the great events to occur in the 
world before his second coming—all disprove the skep- 
tic’s objection, and furnish growing pledges of his return 
again to this world, according to his promise, to execute 
fury on his adversaries, vengeance on his enemies. 
We wrest your objection from you, oh ye that are 
slow of heart to believe all the great things which God 
has promised. [{ is not true, that “all things continue 
as they were from the beginning of the creation.” God 
has never been long absent from the world by the di- 
rect interpositions of his miraculous power. The last 
1,800 years have been the longest period in which the 
world has not seen the visible tokens of his presence. 
He has but retired till the times of the Gentiles be ful- 
filled. He is gathering his elect, taking out of the world 
apeople for his glory. The work will soon be done. 
The day of “ the restitution of all things,” spoken of by 
the holy prophets, draws near. More suddenly shall it 
come than the rush of the tempest in the heavens. 
The lightning’s flash shall not be more rapid or vivid 
than the coming of the Son of Man. Where, then, ye 
scoffers, will ye find a place to hide your guilty 
heads ’—how then shall you be able to meet the indig- 


* Acta, 3) 11; 


ι Ϊ 
4.34. THE SKEPTIC’S OBJECTION. . 


nant flashes of his eye? In vain will ye call on the 
rocks and hills to shelter you, and hide you from the 
wrath of God and of the Lamb. \A power you cannot 
resist shall seize your guilty spirits, and drag them to 
his bar. Terrible, beyond conception, will be the 
agony of your soul, there, in the full sight of his glory, 
to see him whom you have so cruelly rejected, and 
malignantly insulted, and awake to the full horror of 
your doom. 

But happy, unspeakably happy will be the soul pre- 
pared for that glorious revelation of the Lord from 
Heaven : 


Behold! Heaven opens! glory bursts at once 
Upon the sight! Messiah; King of kings 

And Lord of lords! Hosanna! sing aloud, 
Hosanna, hallelujah! See the Lamb 
‘Comes in his wedding garments! Hark, the ᾿. 
The new Jerusalem, his favored bride, a 
Arrayed in white, attending him through Heaven, 
Tunes her unnumbered voices to the song, 
Hosanna, hallelujah! Angels join 

The glorious anthem in melodious tones, 

And through the skies re-echo far and wide, 
Hosanna, hallelujah !— Saints on earth 

Catch the glad sound of joy; and, as they rise 

To meet their Lord in airy regions, shout 
Hosanna, hallelujah! Earth, redeemed 

From thine oppressors, highly favored world, 
Thou birth-place and thou dwelling-place of God, 
Join every voice to swell the mighty choir, 
Hosanna, hallelujah! Ocean, tune 

Thy never ceasing music to the theme 

Hosanna, hallelujah! Mountains, hi 
Groves, forests, valleys, lakes and flowing streams, 
Speak your delight in one united strain, 

Hosanna, hallelujah! And let all 

The full creation, the glad chorus join, 

Till the vast echo fills the realms of space— 


Hosanna, hallelujah! Praise the Lord. 
[Rage’s Poem on the Deity. 


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" ν πιο τονοι 


1 Nate ete α 


ere ou 
> ae ei avi 


οὶ ng ὅν tk οὶ ὅν ae 


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